Asi Haskal

Asi have preformed in the USA, Italy, France and Turkey, and is invited to perform and to teach all over the world.

 

 

 

 

[Top]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Top]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Top]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Top]

 

belly dancing,belly dancing

Contained onbelly dancing this page are links to websites that have belly dancing video clips of belly dancing.  Due to technological limitations of video broadcast over the internet, the quality of movement on belly dancing some of these videos can be jerky and the images are small and belly dancingtherefore belly dancing tend to be dark.  You may also need to download video player software belly dancing to view these clips.  The websites featuring these clips have the instructions you will need to view the clips.  belly dancing I am always adding more items to my belly dancing page, belly dancing so please belly dancing check back for more video belly dancing clips.

This sitebelly dancing  features her award-winning belly dance belly dancing ,instructional belly dancing & performance belly dancing videos and belly dancing DVDs, beautiful belly dancing  pictures of belly dancers,belly dancing  informative and entertaining belly dancing  articles on bellydancing, schedules belly dancing of workshops and retreats, bellydance belly dancing  music, and other delights from the world of Middle Eastern Belly dancing ,belly dancing 2,belly dancing  3.belly dancing 4,belly dancing 5.belly dancing
belly dancing

this article written by vered(gul) will be publish in the next issue of zagarheet magazine in u/s/a and canada
מתוך יומן מסע אוקטובר חודש הרמאזאן איסטנבול, המאמר יפורסם בגיליון הבא של מאגזין זאגריט לריקודי בטן בארה"ב ובקנדה (ראו מאמר זהה בעברית)

Turkey celebrates the month of Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish). Istanbul is decorated and shines in many lights and colors. The municipality has decorated the important mosques and the main streets with illuminated banners greeting the fasting believers. In this month the Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. According to Islam, in this month the Koran has been dictated to Muhammad by the angel Jibril, and Muhammad, who was busy writing the Koran, did not eat or drink from dawn to dusk, and from this arises the custom of fasting in the month of Ramadan.

The fasting time is shortened every day by approximately five minutes. An ear-ringing cannon-shot declares the daily breaking of the fast, and from that moment on a swarm of people floods the streets of Istanbul, the streets are clogged with traffic and the locals crowd the restaurants or the food stalls that have been set up near the mosques. In other places the municipality has erected large tents with benches, in front of which there are long queues of the needy. Even though Islam totally prohibits the consumption of any alcoholic beverage, many Turkish people go out to restaurants in which they intoxicate themselves with Raqi (Araq, a strong middle-eastern alcoholic beverage); however, in the Ramazan month things are different: alcohol is not consumed at all and smoking, or even dancing during the day are prohibited. Despite the fact that Turkey is an Islamic country, the Turkish people are free to decide whether or not to fast during the day. Turkish people who only pretend to “fast” sate their appetites in the upper floors of the restaurants in fear of criticism by their family and friends.

[b]The celebrations in Sultan Ahmet

Once the cannon-shot thunders belly dancing over Istanbul and the Muezzins of the mosques begin the evening prayer (which actually signifies the end of the daily fast), masses of Turkish people go to the food stalls that belly dancing have been erected along belly dancing several hundreds  belly dancing of meters by the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Gammi). belly dancing.belly dancing

The stall-owners try belly dancing  to convince belly dancing  passer-bys belly dancing to buy their belly dancing merchandise by calling out, singing and dancing. There were ones who went belly dancing  overboard and dressed up as “Sultans” or wore traditional  belly dancing clothes of a folklorist flavor. belly dancing  Every stall had tables belly dancing  and chairs behind it exactly as a restaurant would have. Above them they hung  belly dancing thick sheets of cloth to belly dancing  protect the diners from belly dancing  the occasional belly dancing  rains. belly dancing

Every imaginable kind of belly dance  foodstuff is sold here,belly dance  but especially national foodstuffs belly dance  from every part of  belly dance Turkey, such as Doner Kebab. belly dance a special kind of(bread) belly dance  pida traditionally eaten before belly dance  the fast and abelly dance  lentil soup which is also considered to belly dance  be a national belly dance soup.

The things belly dance  that caught mybelly dance  eyes in the most belly dance mesmerizing belly dance  manner were belly dance  the stalls belly dance  selling the customary sweets belly dance  and sweet cakes belly dance of the Ramazan. belly dance An apple covered with belly dance  a layer of red belly dance  raspberry, belly dance and a large plate  belly dance divided into compartments each filled with a belly dance  sticky mash inbelly dance  a different color; the seller sticks a straw inside the sticky mash and roll, belly dance  and then  belly dance the seller moves on belly dance  to a differently-coloredbelly dance   compartment, until the end  rbelly dance esult is formed: a toffee-on-a-stick in belly dance many colors. belly dance

A hugebelly dance   tent was erected  belly dance not far from belly dance the stalls, a café  belly dance that serves tea, Turkish coffee  belly dance and, of course, water-pipe (Nargila) smoking. A sign reading “FASIL” marked the tent, meaning “live music”. The Gypsies belly dance are considered to belly dance be the greatest belly dance  music and entertainment artists in belly dance Turkey. In the past they were belly dance unable to get employment belly dance  in other jobs, and thus choose belly dance  to create their own work in belly dance  fields that allow belly dance them their belly dance  freedom and belly dance independence. belly dance Their belly dance  income source and art were belly dance always music, singing and dancing, and so they were for the members of this particular band belly dance . The violinist, a bulky manbelly dance  with a mustache, belly dance manages the show, belly dance aided by a clarinetist (a very dominant instrument in belly dance Gypsy music), a Darbuka belly dance drummer and a  belly dance Daf player. belly dance  It is needless tobelly dance  say that there belly dance was no sound belly dance amplification .belly dance The tunes are belly dance of the nationalbelly dance  variety, but they belly dance are very happy belly dance to accommodate me with the 9/8. belly dance (A Gypsy music in an asymmetric rhythm, which draws any Gypsy to the dancing floor.) In between thebelly dance  words they shout: belly dance  “Hoho, Hoho” That is their way to belly dance encourage dancing. belly dance For every request for a belly dance specific tune, there is belly dance a price tag. The violinist with belly dance the moustache points belly dance at a bill inserted between the belly dance  violin strings to belly dance indicate it’s time belly dance  for tips. belly dance
The belly dance  belly dance   moment the muezzin belly dance  begins his praying belly dance  , they stopbelly dance   playing belly dance  belly dance  and wait belly dance  for the end.belly dance  In thebelly dance  meantime, the violinist and the clarinetist busy themselves with verbal clashes. Then they go on to exchanges of “Tfu, Tfu”. belly dance
(In the Middle East ‘Tfu’ means spitting and occasionally disgrace and often as a protection against the evil eye.) After a round of pseudo spitting, they pass among the tables and collect more tips. belly dance

In the Gypsy neighborhood belly dance

The phone belly dance  does not stop buzzing. belly dance With semi closed eyes I answer.  “belly dance  Genam”. (Genam is a nickname for a loved one). “How do you do?” Then comes belly dance  a sequence of more sentences inbelly belly dance dance  Turkish spoken in Esma’s loud voice. She belly dance  is from the belly dance Gypsy village. It leaves me in no doubt belly dance  I am belly dance  not dreaming.
The source belly dance  of Esma’s name is from the Koran.  belly dance Other Turkish names derive from completely different sources.
For example, belly dance  a man named “field’s bird”.belly dance  Esma’s brother, is coming to fetch me to the belly dance  Gypsy neighborhood around belly dance 12 o’clock. We made an appointment. belly dance How do the Gypsies belly dance come to pick up someone, belly dance  when they don’t own a car? belly dance  They stop anyone belly dance  who owns a car in the belly dance  neighborhood and belly dance  pay him belly dance  with small bills, so they have a car for the pick up. But Arkin belly dance  did not find his belly dance  car so soon, belly dance considering the fact thatbelly dance   most of the belly dance Gypsies don’t own a belly dance  car. Eventually he arrives while I was  belly dance moving around in the chilly belly dance  Istanbul air. Even the roasted castanias (chestnuts in Ladino, popular during the winter season) bought  belly dance from the peddler in the streetbelly dance   corner, did not help to warm my cold hands. Arkin apologizes for the delay with the excuse of traffic jams. I smile. belly dance

The belly dance  car is climbing its way through steep ascents  belly dance and twisting slopes. One is welcomed to the belly dance village with a smell of fire and smoke, which is burning my lungs.belly dance   A stranger will not come here unless invited by one of the locals.belly dance  The Turks themselves will come only for a good reason. The laws of the street govern  belly dance  and those of the Mafia too. The belly dance  neighborhood, generally basting withbelly dance   people is in a state of lethargybelly dance   because of the Ramazan. belly dance  Most of the residents fast and avoid walking around. Also, the belly dance  Gypsy’s weddings do not take place belly dance  during the Ramazan.belly dance   Out of houses partly built belly dance  of tins, smiling or shy faces peep and quickly hide behind curtains. Women’s headsbelly dance   covered with kerchiefs and men withbelly dance   moustaches appear. The impression is one of poverty  belly dance and simplicity. It seems belly dance  that time stopped ticking and bypassed this belly dance  village. The “movies box office” for  belly dance  entertainment is actually a belly dance  Tabun. (A stone oven for the baking of bread and pita. It’s opening is covered by a towel) belly dance  Esma welcomes us and we take off our shoes belly dance  in the entrance (It’s a Muslim custom). In a house of one by two belly dance  meters with  belly dance a small kitchen, a kneeling toilet and a sitting area we crowd together. Despite poverty and wont, the Gypsies have progressed belly dance and there is a telephone, belly dance  television. and d.v.d in every house .Inbelly dance   normal times, e.g. not in the month belly dance  of Ramazan, if music breaks belly dance  from one of the houses, belly dance  immediately women flock in from belly dance all over the village.  belly dance There is a customary belly dance Gypsy puzzle:” How do you separate twobelly dance  quarreling belly dance Gypsies? It’s simple: You sound Gypsy rhythm and they start dancing.” And so it appeared in my former visit in their house: First to arrive had beenbelly dance  an old woman wearing a kerchief, who later turned out to be a gifted coffee reader; Then came more women with their little daughters. A small 3 year old was sitting in my lap and made “knaks” with her hands in a way I had never seen before. Another woman, big and fat was grasping my hand and was telling me her events for the day with a dance. One of the house residentsraqia hassan was saying: “No belly dance teacher in the world will be able to teach what you belly dance  have just seen here. This is an authentic dance people have learnt since they were born, but don’t be naïve” he continued, belly dance “Watch your purse!”. A tall girl arrived, her hair was dark and she was completely dressed belly dance in pink. The way she was dancing captivated my soul. belly dance Immediately I told her mother that she should be a dancer. Her mother replied: Sure, her father was going to sew a dancing costume for her and later he would make a big fire…I did not want to listen to the end. belly dance raqia hassanThe Gypsy dance tells of raqia hassan
the different labors: Picking flowers,raqia hassan laundry, wiping sweat from one’s brow. We raqia hassan   raqia hassan raqia hassan 
blocked one eye while dancing imitate raqia hassan  raqia hassan

Gypsy baggers and we swayed on our feet while we were imitating the lame. And all is accompanied by encouraging shouts as they are used with solo players of the Maaval
The Gypsy dance has a different style for men and women. After a session of tiring dances, the women stretched on the sofa and even the old ones smoked cigarettes.

But today we shall not dance. It’s against the Ramazan rule. Even the coffee reading is not allowed. Nevertheless, the Gypsies find it oppressing to abstain, especially when they have good partners for the dance
Esma hastens to let me listen to a new contemporary Gypsy music disc. Though her mouth is dry from fasting, she dives into a short dance. After watching the famous dancer Asna in a television interview, we walk around the village with Arkin. Here he is pointing at a square where weddings take place. raqia hassan
We watch the prayers in the local mosque, listening to the muezzin raqia hassan reading from the Koran. To myraqia hassan surprise, Arkin is leading us to a building painted with the Star of David. “It’s the Jews’ mosque” he says’ so it’s a synagogue! It turns out that this neighborhood is crowded with different raqia hassan
nationalities. In the evening Esma’s husband raqia hassan
comes back from work. A kind raqia hassan  raqia hassan  hearted handsome man, with glittering eyes, round raqia hassan   raqia hassan   face and small beard. We wrap ourselves with warm clothing and overcoats. Esma covers her head with a kerchief as befitting a devout Muslim. raqia hassanI look exactly like her when I wrap myself with a big orange raqia hassan pashmina scarf, rolled several times around my head and neck because raqia hassan of the cold wind and rain. My friends are laughing: “You are well acclimatized”. raqia hassan From there we are marching to a place raqia hassan called Feshane near Ayup Sultan. raqia hassan
raqia hassan The Celebration in Feshane.
You are raqia hassan  mistaken to think that the monthraqia hassan  of Ramazan is gloomy.. The Turks contend themselves with a lot of food and nonalcoholic beverage and raqia hassan  especially with good music. raqia hassan In the raqia hassan Feshane there is a raqia hassan place that functions as raqia hassan an amusement park throughout the year with raqia hassan colliding cars raqia hassan  which float on water, raqia hassan uncomplicatedraqia hassan   rollercoaster and raqia hassan  horse merry go raqia hassan  round They added a roofed raqia hassan  market, a lraqia hassan  ot of ornament stalls raqia hassan  (A huge raqia hassan selection of golden jewelry useful for belly dancing, clothing, shoes and house utensils. raqia hassan

. raqia hassan
We spent time raqia hassan   by a stall for massage instruments. Each of us in his turn was sitting and having fun, raqia hassan  while his back was massaged. raqia hassan  Esma, her loud voice heard all raqia hassan  over the market, bargained for me. When . raqia hassan merchants raqia hassan  had refused to accommodate her, she raqia hassan dragged me and raqia hassan   I encouraged her raqia hassan not to give in .”why is it so expensive? Is it gold?” The men of our company were of raqia hassan course attracted raqia hassan . raqia hassan to a car stand. Ali, Esma’s husband . raqia hassan raqia hassan approached . raqia hassan a t.raqia hassanallrraqia hassan  aqia hassan  raqia hassan   dealer impeccably dressed.. raqia hassan  Ali looked so raqia . raqia hassan hassan  small in . raqia hassan comparison raqia hassan to him that it aroused laughter. raqia hassan Ali asked to try raqia . raqia hassan hassan the car sits and have the feel of it, as if that will help him to . raqia hassan make a decision. They raqia . raqia hassan hassan cannot . raqia hassan afford a raqia hassan car. Ali and Arkin were sitting in the car, raqia hassantrying . raqia hassan the stirring wheel. . raqia hassan raqia hassanI was deeply moved. They were so raqia hassan cute. They stood up as if it’s not their type of car. In order to lighten the atmosphere, I stood by the dealer, looking up as to a skyscraper. They burst with laughter and forgot about the car and it’s price. Outside,. raqia hassan  around the food stalls they raised a tent and in a few seconds the band performance will begin. Who is the head? A clarinetist who is the son of . raqia hassan the old coffee reader. . raqia hassan  ( the clarinet is very . raqia hassan popular in Turkish music). “My mom told me about you” he says. “Welcome” and he makes a. raqia hassan  pelvic . raqia hassan movement to . raqia hassan indicate he is aware of my profession. Ten players perform with him. They play the darbuka, . raqia hassan mazhar, tamburin, violin and cannon. I hope I did not omit any. . raqia hassan

At the tables . raqia hassan they serve coffee, tea sweets and nargile A . raqia hassan 7 year old girl gets up suddenly and starts a mixure of belly and Gypsy . raqia hassan dancing. The girl was amazing. . raqia hassan I could not let my . raqia hassan eyes of her, but all of a sudden, one of the waiters dressed as a Sultan, arrived and asked her family to order . raqia hassan her to sit down. The owners wanted attention to focus on the players and. raqia hassan  not on dancing. The players had a. raqia hassan  different opinion and gestured me and Esma to dance, but we signaled back it was. raqia hassan  not welcomed, pointing at the girl.

The Turkish tables accompanied the . raqia hassan players with singing. The Turks love the sad words and crying in . raqia hassan the songs The more painful it sounds, the better it is. (They are not of the younger generation). The singer trills his voice. Once in a while, . raqia hassan the waiter passes a note with a request from the audience. Later the clarinet, darbuka and cannon players collect pips and shake hands with . raqia hassan admirers. By the way, the word “darbuka” is Turkish. name In . raqia hassan the Arab countries and in Egypt the darbuka called “tabla”. . raqia hassan

The performances . raqia hassan

When every one rest during the weekend and. raqia hassan go out to entertain, it’s the best time for belly dances. Then many groups of tourists crowd the tourists’ folklore clubs.
It’s disappointing that the Turks . raqia hassan do not show up there. The price is expensive. raqia hassan, 40-50 $ including dinner. Besides, they are not welcome by the owners.. raqia hassan “Alcohol and belly dances. raqia hassan mixed with the Turkish population lower the standard of the place. The Turks themselves do not really. raqia hassan care. The preferred. raqia hassan pastime of the older . raqia hassan generation is watching television.. In any second program in one of the numerous channels of Turkish television. raqia hassan one can watch belly dances. Belly dancers are invited to private parties. A new business that developed only lately is agencies. raqia hassan for workshops by belly dancers, . raqia hassan and performances in and outside . raqia hassan of Turkey. The work in the clubs for belly dances is demanding . raqia hassan and calls for perseverance. It’s seven days a week . raqia hassan in the same place and at the same time. Wages are low, determined. raqia hassan  according to the monthly salary. There is a new problem. raqia hassan when the dancer has a private show, which we. raqia hassan call ‘extra”. The payment for extra is between 200-300$. In any oriental club three dancers perform. raqia hassan. Their rating is determined by seniority, talent and popularity. raqia hassan. Thus, dancers who close the . raqia hassan evening, do not. raqia hassan manage to get. raqia hassan in time for the extras and. raqia hassan it is risky to ask for a changer. Many of the dancers in those clubs suffer attrition. On the other hand, they gain stage experience. . raqia hassan

The Turkish fashion for belly dancing dress today . raqia hassan

A . raqia hassan short survey: The Turkish fashion . raqia hassan has not changed dramatically as. raqia hassan in Egypt. Most of the costumes are ornamented with fringes, especially with a lot. raqia hassan of stone work (“tas” in Turkish). One can find the triangular belt in any fashion designer shop. raqia hassan. In many . raqia hassan costumes the belts on top of the dress have been given up for decorated skirts in the pelvic area. The Turkish dressmakers. raqia hassan disapprove of costumes like that of Dina They cannot understand how. raqia hassan one can dance in a costume without ornaments. . raqia hassan Although many Europeans bring skirts designed . raqia hassan by Dina’s designers in order to . raqia hassan be copied, this fashion has not gotten. raqia hassan a hold here. And what . raqia hassan about the dancers who work every evening . raqia hassan in the clubs? . raqia hassan Most of them have one or two costumes.. raqia hassan  The . raqia hassan audience there . raqia hassan changes every evening. raqia hassan , so . raqia hassan they prefer not to . raqia hassan change costumes often. raqia hassan , because of the price. raqia hassan . The fabrics are lycra or glittering. Imitation of snake or tiger skins is also fashionable.. raqia hassan  This is as far as they are ready to go. The dominant colors are bordo, pistachio green, gold, turquoise, white and pastel pink. . raqia hassan
Work quality: Due to cheap. raqia hassan  work, all stones and embroidery are . raqia hassan sewn. Each designer . raqia hassan has her own design for the bras. Sometimes it’s possible to find different designs.. raqia hassan  Unique for Turkey and very impressing . raqia hassan are the costumes with. raqia hassan  a skirt shaped with splits, all of which decorated. raqia hassan  with “shtrases” and stone work or a. raqia hassan  transparent net under the . raqia hassan splitted skirt embroidered with glittering stones. . raqia hassan The designer suits (not from the bazar) cost 600 $ or more. A new. raqia hassan  dress item, added to the Turkish dress is a winged scarf (issis) that costs 130$. . raqia hassan
Now come with me behind the curtains of the belly dancing scene in Turkey.

Friday; Performance in Orient House. . raqia hassan

We enter through the artists’ entrance to our dressing rooms. I stay in the same . raqia hassan room with Oia.
In the meantime, a plate of . raqia hassan seasonal fruits and water are brought by the theater attendant. The room is stuffed with wardrobes, the dancers’ personal effects, their loved one photographs . raqia hassan and pictures of handsome guys and there is also . raqia hassan a bathroom. Most of the dancers arrive and start to prepare themselves . raqia hassan and to apply makeup.
Birgul as always appears as if. raqia hassan  she has just come from a fitness club. She is dressed in training suit and sport shoes. . raqia hassan I prefer to come strait from home and ready and prepare quietly . raqia hassan on my own terms. That’s why I have time to chat with . raqia hassan Oia about hair supplements which most of the Turkish dancers . raqia hassan use and about dress shops and about news. The attendant comes into the room and interrupts the small talk. Oia is expected to go on stage in. raqia hassan  about five minutes. Oia is a Russian who has been living in Turkey for the past ten years with a Turkish boyfriend. Her dance is very sensual. Her spinning on stage. raqia hassan  is like a storm. She dances to the tunes of Galila’s disc music. . raqia hassan As expected it is a dance on heels with a stick, then solo drums.. raqia hassan  Afterwards, she is circling the audience and is photographed with. raqia hassan  people as bills of money decorate her dress, as a clear hint for the audience to tip her. . raqia hassan
Lately, there has been a new. raqia hassan  performance in the Orient House. It’s called “the dancing Dervish”. It stirred . raqia hassan controversy, because . raqia hassan it is a religious dance. Nevertheless, one does not argue with the Orient House. After the Dervish it is my turn to. raqia hassan  walk on stage. The master of ceremonies announces to the audience that . raqia hassan “now, a dancer will broaden your horizons. Her belly does impossible fits. Ladies and gentlemen (in English), welcome Gul, the dancer!”. . raqia hassan And I’m thinking: “Where should I lead them today”. There were many . raqia hassan Iranians in the audience. While I was dancing to an Arab. raqia hassan  tune, a woman got up, stood by the stage, held my hand and kissed it. . raqia hassan
She was very excited. Others came from the. raqia hassan  “slanting eyed’ countries, from Norway and from oter. raqia hassan  European countries. It is a completely different audience than the Mediterranean one I’m used to. An audience I find difficult to read. . raqia hassan They look excited and applaud in the end. A dazzling performance caused by. raqia hassan  the fleshes of the slanting eyes.

The performances in Istanbulin Harbiye and at a restaurant in Koomkape. . raqia hassan

An important . raqia hassan guest arrives today with her students to the club in Istanbulin. Before her visit to the holy land of. raqia hassan  Israel to the Shaar Hagolan festival, she and some of her students from the USA stop over in Turkey in order to absorb more belly dancing..In the afternoon, John kafri called me and was glad to find out that I perform in Istanbulin, because it was the club they intended to visit today. The club owner asked me to come half an hour earlier, in order to schedule the program with the band. He requests that one segment of my show will be accompanied by . raqia hassan cymbals (zill in Turkish). He regrets that no one in his club dances with cymbals. In his youth he worshipped Tulay karaja, . raqia hassan the legendary dancer and a champion of cymbal dancing. But she stopped performing since she has been married . raqia hassan
Tulay, an appealing blond, was the one to . raqia hassan bring us together and subsequently I was offered a permanent position. Cymbals can be found in the musical instruments street that follows Istiklal Caddesi. It is the musicians’ street. It has authentic and modern instruments,. raqia hassan  flutes made of bamboo or black plastic, lute, baglama, darbuka, cymbals etc I chose bigger and heavy cymbals with high pitch that would . raqia hassan fit the band sound. From another shop for belly dancing dress I got thick new rubber so I would be able to tighten the cymbals to my. raqia hassan  fingers. It’s hard to get used to new cymbals. It is the same as with musical instruments. You are used to one brand and suddenly they change the . raqia hassan model.
Before the performance, I sit with the manager and use the time to connect the rubber to the cymbals. The truth . raqia hassan is that while I was drinking tea, the club manager found a way to attach the cymbals. . raqia hassan
The band chief is a violinist. All Turkish players are familiar with the Aziza version. Later we pick another song by . raqia hassan ibrahim Tatlisas, a Turkish song “Mavi-maVi”, another classical song, . raqia hassan darbuka solo and finale. It is easier when the darbuka player arrives. I mention “dom” and “tak”. He knows all the rhythms but is ignorant of their names. At last we choose drums solo based on the rhythm “masmudi kbir”. In Istanbulin, as is in other oriental Turkish clubs, the program is similar: Folklore . raqia hassan dancing, Ashuk- Mashuk, and Caucasian with a new twist.

They use a female dancer, . raqia hassan three belly dancers and a singer . raqia hassan capable of singing in any. raqia hassan  language. The first dancer of the evening arrives. She is Elul, born of a German . raqia hassan mother and a Turkish father. She is blond with strait hair and lean. She hurries to show me the new acquisition, a purple dancing suit. She scatters shinning chips all over me with a make up sponge. . raqia hassan We help each other to . raqia hassan dress. Another dancer is Hurham, the Gypsy. She performs a Gypsy piece. She is cute, brown, and often provocative. . raqia hassan Her younger sister works at the Gar club . raqia hassan
Who is in the audience. raqia hassan  today? Iranians, . raqia hassan Greeks, Thais. The attendant summons me to get to the. raqia hassan  room from which one walks on stage. I am among. raqia hassan  the few who dance without shoes. The band starts with Aziza but they . raqia hassan are not familiar with more than a stanza. And then they go on to play solo clarinet. I change my rhythm . raqia hassan accordingly. Here are John. raqia hassan  kafri and the girl I approach . raqia hassan them still dancing . raqia hassan and greet them.. raqia hassan  Near the stage, a group of Frenchmen with two Chinese try. raqia hassan  to offer me tip But they have no idea were should . raqia hassan they put it, because I do not have a belt. I approach them and withdraw again. . raqia hassan They laugh embarrassed. I pass to the Greeks and Iranians side. There are some women there who shake their shoulders . raqia hassan
. raqia hassan
I cannot . raqia hassan get near them. . raqia hassan They are too far and my job is to dance on stage and not with the audience. . raqia hassan
The dancer who closes the evening has to perform but not to activate the . raqia hassan audience. In drums solo I climb . raqia hassan the stairs and stand near the drummer. It is an improvised solo., swift and intensive. With my eyes I sign him to finish the solo. It is time for curtsey and the finale, . raqia hassan in which we depart. I introduce the band . raqia hassan and thank them too. . raqia hassan The stage lights are out and we all go behind the curtains. We sit with the band, drink and exchange impressions about the show. I hurry to pack and to organize for the next performance, but first I have to depart from John and the girls. . raqia hassan . raqia hassan
From here I travel to . raqia hassan another part of Istanbul, to a place called Koomkape for a show in a fish restaurant with a local troupe . raqia hassan
Koomkape is a large stone gate. (“kape” is a gate in. raqia hassan Turkish). It leads to a pedestrian mall that is crowded with . raqia hassan numerous fish and sea food restaurants . It’s a tourists’ district, but many Turks spend time there, often in . raqia hassan order to celebrate an important occasion such as birthdays or . raqia hassanentertainment of friends from faraway. In the month of the Ramazan, one seldom observes Turks there because of the alcohol prohibition. But if one cares for a live music or wine (raki), this is the right place. At the summer time, the place is crowded and the street players have their pick of restaurants or people to play for. When the mood is good, a spontaneous . raqia hassan party starts to play in the street. The women tie their scarves to the pelvis and . raqia hassan start . raqia hassan hopping. The men take care of the tables that might fetch fat tips. If it is a couple, the man will ask the band to sing love. raqia hassan  songs for his spouse. Gifted singers may be discovered there and . raqia hassan more than few Turks take a try at “Kariuk.”.. . raqia hassan
Jallal, the restaurant owner, a 35 years . raqia hassan old man with thick jell . raqia hassan spread on his hair, bristles on . raqia hassan his face and green eyes is elegantly dressed. He is a shrewd businessman. In contrast to the other . raqia hassan restaurants, he has his own band, a security man and cars which carry . raqia hassantourists back to their hotels. In this season, he does not miss any tourist passing by. The moment he notices a blond walking by, he immediately sends one of his workers to bring him in. My employment is another valuable means to draw an audience with something the other restaurants lack. Why? Every district in Turkey has its own municipal authority. Because the restaurant is open to the street, belly dancing is prohibited. The mayors of this district are religious. He risks being fined by hiring me, but money fixes every thing. I come down the second level to the central space.. The stairs lights are dimmed. Instead, candles and fireworks are glowing. The waiters welcome me with a basket of rose petals, which they scatter above my head. The band starts with a tune for the scarf dance and then cannon, lute, tambourine, violin and darbuka. Soon joins another . raqia hassandarbukist, who was passing by. We. raqia hassan  did not yet get a taste of the scarf music and it turns to an exciting drum solo. T he darbuka player is a master of . raqia hassan improvisation. He plays with the rhythm in a way that brings out my best movements. What I cherish in him is that in comparison to many players, whose ego is at the expense of the dancer, he follows my . raqia hassan movements and not the other way around. There is a beauty in serving the other completely. In Turkey it is a part of their culture. I check him during the performance to make sure I do not imagine it.. raqia hassan I change my rhythm and Smile with pleasure. . raqia hassan The darbuka indeed is following me. After 5 minutes of drum solo, all the band members sing and play together cannon . raqia hassan solo. It is typical for the Turkish playing to pinch in a tone of . raqia hassan “glish” (sliding) on a number of strings. . raqia hassan
. Mahmoud Reda
We close the first . Mahmoud Reda part of the evening with a Gypsy dance 9/8 rhythm). At this point, one of the players joins me . Mahmoud Reda and starts to dance. In the Gypsy dance they generously . Mahmoud Reda use mimes, characters and pretend to sit on the floor and . Mahmoud Reda launder. These guys are not up to date. Mahmoud Reda .: In belly dancing the machine. Mahmoud Reda  has been already. Mahmoud Reda  invented. A circling movement is called “ a washing machine”. After a short rest, we return. This time I raise people from. Mahmoud Reda  the audience: Japanese with camera.. Mahmoud Reda  Mahmoud Reda  flashes, a Turkish family, 2 nurses from a Turkish hospital and a group of . Mahmoud Reda South Americans.. Mahmoud Reda  It is important to understand that most of the. Mahmoud Reda  tourists have never been exposed to belly dancing . Mahmoud Reda other than in “A thousand nights and one”. What for us is being taken for granted, is astonishing for them. You . Mahmoud Reda should have seen their faces. Mahmoud Reda . It is a gratifying . Mahmoud Reda experience for me. The stunned tourists make an effort to thank us in Turkish and let us know how a . Mahmoud Reda wonderful experience it was for them. They talk to me as to a Turk who does not . Mahmoud Reda understand English using sign language or international words such as “Bravo”. They do not notice my reply in English. They assume I am a villager. So I respond according to their expectations and greet them in Turkish.. Mahmoud Reda  

After the performance, . Mahmoud Reda grilled fish, salads and toasted pita with savory were served at our table. Loud tones of zorona came out of the sou. Mahmoud Redand . Mahmoud Reda system. Jallal, despite . Mahmoud Reda  being a tough manager,is dancing with . Mahmoud Reda the waiters in a circle. It is called “Hallai”:. Mahmoud Reda   Each holds the other’s little finger. Others . Mahmoud Reda wave napkins picked from the tables. The dance is similar to Debka. Based on their . Mahmoud Reda accent, and fraternity, I assume that some of the waiters are Curds. . Mahmoud Reda
I shall return to Jallal’s restaurant tomorrow after my performance in the . Mahmoud Reda

Orient House

Sunday; A performance in the Orient House and in the Turkish restaurant. . Mahmoud Reda

Orient House . Mahmoud Reda
I regret I did not bring with . Mahmoud Reda me more dancing suits. I did not . Mahmoud Reda have enough space in my suitcase and was also afraid to lose the suitcase. I’m requested to take Birgul’s place. She is the third dancer after the show. She is interested in my workshops in Turkey. . Mahmoud Reda
My performance lasts for eighteen. Mahmoud Reda   minutes, which is the longest in the . Mahmoud Reda Orient House: Scarf dance, drums sols, hafla, another . Mahmoud Reda drums solo and then finale. In the end, someone takes care to . Mahmoud Reda return the scarf. Didn’t we say a Turkish service? . Mahmoud Reda
Most of the Turkish dancers are . Mahmoud Reda not involved with international and . Mahmoud Reda Egyptian activity of belly dancing. They are not familiar with dressing styles or folklore . Mahmoud Reda dancing other than the Raks Sharqi. Only three of the . Mahmoud Reda dancers I know have stayed in Egypt. Maybe explanation lies in the feedback they receive from the flourishing tourism of belly dancing in Turkey. . Mahmoud Reda They are rated second to Egypt. In Turkey tourism is great throughout the year. . Mahmoud Reda
. Mahmoud Reda
Istanbul lies in the. Mahmoud Reda  middle and is divided to the European side and to the Asian side. Surprisingly, it is the Asian side that is endowed with . Mahmoud Reda impressive neighborhoods, even according to European . Mahmoud Reda standards. Every tourist visits these clubs at least for one time. . Mahmoud Reda Maybe it is one of the reasons that Turkish dancers do not make an effort to change their repertoire. Moreover, because of the high demand for Turkish teachers to administer workshops to European groups, the price is . Mahmoud Reda skyrocketing. For example, a six hours workshop costs 2000$ stated in Turkish or Euro currency. Another club manager told me that right now there is no master of belly dancing in Turkey.
He compared proudly contemporary dancers with the stars who have used to perform in his club.
From there I continued to a performance in Koomkapa. Today I have a program I chose personally: “hayde soyle”’ of Ibrahim, which is stunning and very exciting, an overture to the scarf dance, and solo for the Sagat. . Mahmoud Reda
I tell them ahead not to play drums solo right in the beginning. The band . Mahmoud Redaconsents and the program starts. The tourists do not spare tips and when they leave at the end of their meal, they do not forget to tip generously. . Mahmoud Reda

Ahmet the dancer and the meeting with the Mezdeke band. . Mahmoud Reda

I’m going for a business meeting with the Mezdeke . Mahmoud Reda troupe in the studio adjacent to Bella, the dress designer. . Mahmoud Reda
Mezdeke is a group of three women with a veil on their face. Only the eyes show. It is their identifying mark. They are . Mahmoud Reda more than a group. They are actually an enterprise: . Mahmoud Reda They issued serial of discs with the music they are used to dance to. . Mahmoud Reda They are not allowed to expose their face, even not in a television interview.. Mahmoud Reda  Lately, they regrouped and it consists of two females and one male choreographer- dancer, named Ahmet. . Mahmoud Reda
They start with . Mahmoud Reda the scarf dance. Ahmet indeed has brought life to the group and a very professional and interesting choreography.. Mahmoud Reda  He explained to me his teaching method: “First I show them the steps and only later I work on polishing the movements and mime”. Next we work on . Mahmoud Reda choreography for the. Mahmoud Reda  stick dance. In Turkey stick is called “baston”. I show them the possibilities and movements with the stick, with which they are not . Mahmoud Redafamiliar. Ahmet dances better than the other dancers in his group. One of the steps with . Mahmoud Reda the stick is very similar to the debka dance. Later we move on to a Gypsy dance in which Ahmet is . Mahmoud Reda dancing solo. The girls want to watch my dancing. I show them some of the scarf solo and the darbuka from my repertoire. We spend some time on specific movements in which they show interest.. Mahmoud Reda  
I leave them in order to get ready for the evening performance. I cannot avoid entering into . Mahmoud Reda Bella’s shop, . Mahmoud Reda which is close by. She is in Belgium. I’m received . Mahmoud Reda by the dressmakers and by…many cats that are lying in the show room. I do not see any novelties, though lately, there are new designers with more daring. But Bella has her own quality and her stitches stand the trial of fire and water . Mahmoud Reda

The show in Beyzet and in Galata Colisseu. . Mahmoud Reda
Beyzet is a restaurant frequented mainly by . Mahmoud Reda Turkish audience and in high season by tourists. I perform with a gypsy band. It is the least . Mahmoud Reda professional of those I have heard during this visit. Even the restaurant owner . Mahmoud Reda  prefers I should dance to disk music instead of dancing . Mahmoud Reda to their music. I prefer experience to accuracy and eventually appear with the band. I dance the scarf, drums solo, cymbal and two more merry songs. The Turkish audience looks surprised but satisfied. They do not get up from their chairs at all during the performance. . Mahmoud Reda

Saturday: . Mahmoud Reda
The Galata tower . Mahmoud Reda
The Galata tower is known as . Mahmoud Reda a tourist attraction because of the spectacular view over Istanbul. In the evening a club for folklore and belly dances is open with two halls. The program is as in . Mahmoud Reda any . Mahmoud Reda Turkish club. As usual, most of the audience consists of Japanese, Chinese, . Mahmoud Reda Norwegian, Swedish and French tourists . Mahmoud Reda I’m scheduled to perform in the second . Mahmoud Reda hall toward the end. This time I have an additional task; A “fati” is sitting on stage near the band. (It is a Turkish actor . . Mahmoud Reda Mahmoud Reda dressed as a Sultan.). He is surrounded by female tourists from the audience. By a. Mahmoud Reda  signal from the drummer, I have to teach these women some belly dancing. Mahmoud Reda. I hope his signal is clear. . Mahmoud Reda I have known him from former performances. We agree upon rhythms for the drums solo and how to start and end the song . Mahmoud Reda
We choose “Zahi el Hawa” as an overture. . Mahmoud Reda The Galata band is very experienced in playing for belly dancing. . Mahmoud Reda
Throughout the. Mahmoud Reda  years, they have learnt from the . Mahmoud Reda dancers to . Mahmoud Reda play classical. Mahmoud Reda  tunes by . Mahmoud Reda listening to recorded Egyptian music. Except for the solo violin (doubtfully in the original. Mahmoud Reda  tune of Abdel Chalim), all the rest perform here too, . Mahmoud Reda including a drummer who follows the dancers and not the other way around. One of the French women, . Mahmoud Reda who is sitting near the “Fati’, is drunk. The audience enjoys itself and the drummers . Mahmoud Reda  dramatically emphasize our pelvic movements with loud ‘tacks’. The audience is warm and cooperating. . Mahmoud Reda The Sultan Daughters are applauded. The club owner is delighted. We close the evening with drums solo and finale. . Mahmoud Reda
In the office, a dancer who performed before me. Mahmoud Reda , is waiting. She is young, pretty and very acrobatic. “Where did you learn to dance?” She asks me. “In many places” I answer. But an important part of my studies has taken place in Turkey. The club owner looks at her inquisitiveness with disapproval. I depart and promise to let them know about my next arrival.

It is impossible to have a “Turkish dairy” without some crying; Well, I would not disappoint you. I made an appointment with Sema Yildiz, who was considered one of the great dancers in Turkey. Nowadays, she is generally busy with workshops throughout Europe and Turkey. To her credit, it should be said that many successful dancers came out of her “pipe”. For example, Asna and lately the popular Didam.
We go to belly dancing club called “Gar”. . Mahmoud Reda The owner asks me to come to perform there for at least half a year in the summer. “He or Sama can accommodate me”. Mahmoud Reda , he says, smiling from ear to ear. . Mahmoud Reda

The dancer Gulnihal arrives.. Mahmoud Reda  She is the one to close he evening in the Gar club. I consider . Mahmoud Reda her one of the best dancers in Turkey. She joins our table. When the stage lights flash, I notice tears in her eyes. I do not need an explanation. Mahmoud Redam . She is missing my teacher who has left Turkey. She has always remembered me. Mahmoud Reda  in connection to my teacher, her best friend. When I was a . Mahmoud Reda student, I stayed with her constantly at work and at home. Mahmoud Reda . I embrace her and cry too. We both miss her especially in the Gar. We try to . Mahmoud Reda call her, but there is no answer.
Now, the Caucasian band is on stage. . Mahmoud Reda There are some changes too: Every one is dressed in black . Mahmoud Reda ninga kerchiefs. I’m surprised that these hats have. Mahmoud Reda  become fashionable. Soon, we shall know . Mahmoud Redathe facts. In the meantime, all the band members take off the kerchiefs except for the head dancer Tahir. . Mahmoud Reda
Gulinhal dances . Mahmoud Reda according to a new choreography. . Mahmoud Reda Her dance is beautiful, and aesthetic. It is a belly dancing worth its name. When I walk up to the artists’ room, . Mahmoud Reda I encounter Tahir, the dancer- choreographer of the Caucasian group, but I barely recognize him. . Mahmoud Reda Without the kerchief I realize his long hair had a short crew cut. It turns out that he was enlisted to the Turkish army. And is stationed in the Navy.
In Turkey, there is no way to avoid the army,  Fifi Abdou even when you are well past . Mahmoud Reda eighteen. The army is definitely . Mahmoud Reda not a picnic: No vacations, no cell phones and no weekends because of the long distances. I . Mahmoud Reda wonder what would be the impact of his military experience on him. The Caucasian dancing demands great deal. Mahmoud Reda  of stamina. Would he go back to dancing? . Mahmoud Reda. Fifi Abdou   
. Fifi Abdou    When I go back to Fifi Abdou Turkey, sometimes it seems to me, that time is at a standstill. When one returns after half a Fifi Abdou year, one meets the same Fifi Abdou people and the same performances, Fifi Abdou as if one is in a playback video. You leave, you come. Fifi Abdou     back and every body is still there. Fifi Abdou But to each of the characters in Fifi Abdou the show, Fifi Abdou there is a stage span. Few seasons ago, it was my teacher’s turn. She chose to Fifi Abdou   dedicate her life to her f. Fifi Abdou    amily, and stopped being a professional dancer. Now it’s Tahir who was Fifi Abdou. Fifi Abdou     compelled to leave the Fifi Abdou  scene. Who knows?. Fifi Abdou    
Maybe in a few Fifi Abdou more years . Fifi Abdou     Fifi Abdou 
all the crew will change. Fifi Abdou Then  Fifi Abdou a new generation of  Fifi Abdou performers will Fifi Abdou consider themselves  Fifi Abdou the best. Fifi Abdou  Only the club owners stay Fifi Abdou  the same. Business is as usual.  Fifi Abdou When I really think about it, I ask what is their legacy other than Fifi Abdou  making a singular impression on the audience at night. I do not have an answer  Fifi Abdou other than this one: . Fifi Abdou   

They leave behind students who  Fifi Abdou inherit their art and continue their way.

-The end-  Fifi Abdou 

A dancer isn’t a mere Fifi Abdou  instrument of the music when she dances;  Fifi Abdou she is the conductor of the Fifi Abdou  entire orchestra. Many dancers will dance to the sounds of exactly t Fifi Abdou he same music, but each has  Fifi Abdou interpretation of her own.  Fifi Abdou Creativity comes into play exactly  Fifi Abdou here: the differences between dances or between performers; how do we translate the music into our body’s moves, and what we choose to do with it.  Fifi Abdou 

 Fifi Abdou 

Building a  Fifi Abdou motional sentence. What does this  Fifi Abdou mean? It is exactly like a sentence in a book.  Fifi Abdou The sentence has beginning, middle and end, as  Fifi Abdou well as reading marks! We choose several central moves. For example, we’ll use a loop, a big circle and a camel.  Fifi Abdou 

We put spaces between a  Fifi Abdou move and a central move by paces or by a  Fifi Abdou move that links between them. The linking paces between two moves could be walking back or forth, walking to the side with a crossed leg, turning around and more.  Fifi Abdou 

It is possible  Fifi Abdou and even desire that the sentence will have Fifi Abdou  a developing nature. Fifi Abdou  If it isn’t, I’ll teach you later how to do so. Mimics  Fifi Abdou and facial expressions  Fifi Abdou have to be combined into the sentence exactly like paces and steps. The mimics have to fit the music,  Fifi Abdou especially if the music  Fifi Abdou has words or lyrics. I’ll dedicate a  Fifi Abdou separate chapter to the subject of mimics  Fifi Abdou and facial expressions. When the motional sentence is ready, we could continue from this  Fifi Abdou basis to build the entire choreography. I’ll present several  Fifi Abdou possibilities for continuation. It is possible to choose between them and there is no need to use all of them.  Fifi Abdou 

1)  Fifi Abdou Take a part from the motional sentence and perform it again in various directions. For example: a Fifi Abdou  step we did to the right, we could do again to the left. Or if you stepped forward, in the next verse of the song you  Fifi Abdou could step backwards. Changing direction, changing fronts.

2) A recurring motif. Especially if the Fifi Abdou  music you’ve chosen has a  Fifi Abdou repeating verse or strong Darbukas. It is possible and even desired to repeat this motion. This creates a link between you and the audience and  Fifi Abdou befriends them with your dance.

3) Reverse: backwards. Fifi Abdou  It is possible to perform the entire sentence from the end to the beginning.  Fifi Abdou 
 Fifi Abdou 
4) Reverse of a move: just as in 3,  Fifi Abdou but this time it is done to a single move only.

5) Heights. It is possible  Fifi Abdou to perform one of the sentence’s moves in different heights. For example: a camel, once low and once high. Fifi Abdou  Or working on the floor, and alternatively walking on the tips of your toes.  Fifi Abdou 

6) Motion speed.  Fifi Abdou It is possible to perform part of the sentence or a  Fifi Abdou single move from it in a different speed. Or in an expressed and fragmented way as in solo drumming.  Fifi Abdou The finales of songs are usually performed at a fast pace. In short, include different speeds Fifi Abdou  of motion in the same sentence.  Fifi Abdou 

7) Dynamics: create a change  Fifi Abdou in the dynamics of motion. This means  Fifi Abdou making a qualitative change in motion. From heavy to light, from round to sharp, thrust or resistance.  Fifi Abdou 

Change:  Fifi Abdou changing the limb that performs the motion.  Fifi Abdou For example: if in the sentence we took our shoulder back, in the next sentence we could use our leg to perform half a loop backwards. This is essentially a  Fifi Abdou replication of the motion performed by another limb.  Fifi Abdou 

9) New order. It is possible to create a new order inside the choreographic  Fifi Abdou sentences.  Fifi Abdou A motion with which  Fifi Abdou we’ve finished the sentence will be in its middle, a motion with which we’ve started a sentence will end it and so on Fifi Abdou …

10) Replication.  Fifi Abdou Taking a part of the sentence and repeating  Fifi Abdou it several times.  Fifi Abdou 

11) Amplification: Fifi Abdou  Especially if we replicate motions,  Fifi Abdou we should increase their power from time to time. More intensively and more quickly.

12)  Fifi Abdou From a single limb to a couple of limbs. A motion done with a single limb, for example with an arm,  Fifi Abdou could be performed with the thigh and the hand together.  Fifi Abdou 

13) Fifi Abdou  From small to big and vica versa.  Fifi Abdou Turn a small move into a big one. A loop in the frame of the body, and a loop that extends beyond that frame. The circle of a washing machine and a circle around the world.  Fifi Abdou 

14)  Fifi Abdou Delay. Delaying to create suspense in  Fifi Abdou the observer. You don’t have to move all the time and dance to a great length and width. It is possible and advisable to intentionally pause when we Fifi Abdou  focus on a single move accompanied by a facial Fifi Abdou  expression or a stare. For example looking at your palm Fifi Abdou  that performs a minimal motion. 
 Fifi Abdou 
15) [b]Less is more [/b]– there  Fifi Abdou is a proverb that says that in Fifi Abdou  dance, “less is more”. Let me explain:  Fifi Abdou We all have that ever-present need to show that we are actually turning around, Fifi Abdou  performing a loop, to the length and width,  Fifi Abdou from right to left, performing slaloms (I  Fifi Abdou intentionally exaggerate,  Fifi Abdou but there are dancers who do this). Too many moves tire the audience’s eyes.  Fifi Abdou Instead of ten moves, take one move and amplify it. At my last workshop, a dancer  Fifi Abdou came to me and wished to share her workshop  Fifi Abdou results with me, which allowed her to focus on a move Fifi Abdou  and change its attributes. She told me that where she studies, one could be lost  Fifi Abdou in the details of all the moves. If  Fifi Abdou you’ve found a motion that looks good and fits your body (there are moves that you shouldn’t perform if they don’t “sit well” on you), go for it. For example,  Fifi Abdou perform a small move and enlarge it.  Fifi Abdou 

16) [ Fifi Abdou b]Choose moves that fit you – you might have seen a[/b]  Fifi Abdou fascinating move made by the Fifi Abdou  dancer Fifi Abado in video. Now you are working on it. It does not sit well on your body yet,  Fifi Abdou or, more accurately, on the way you perform it. There will be enough time, Inshalla, to  Fifi Abdou perform it in other choreographies i Fifi Abdou n the future. Go along with what you already have and improve on it. The audience will  Fifi Abdou recognize a motion with which you aren’t familiar and which does not flow with you. You really don’t feel comfortable with it and you  Fifi Abdou might emit a feeling of insecurity or hesitation.  Fifi Abdou 

17)  Fifi Abdou [b]Cleanliness – and I don’t mean cleaning Fifi Abdou  your home, but [/b]making  Fifi Abdou sure that your moves are clear and  Fifi Abdou comprehensible. Did you decide to  Fifi Abdou make a solo performance? Did you build your own choreography that you want to perform? T Fifi Abdou his means that you have something to say, say this. In confidence, with power and with a  Fifi Abdou purpose. This is a miracle by itself in order to reinforce your stage  Fifi Abdou presence. Cleanliness also means not to mix too many  Fifi Abdou things in one move. Fifi Abdou  This is especially  Fifi Abdou advisable when you perform solo drumming. Don’t confuse the eyes of the audience, and, again, don’t put too much strain on them. You should  Fifi Abdou perform complex moves, but if you’re doing Shimmi (body shaking), there is no point in  Fifi Abdou performing excessive hand motions  Fifi Abdou that will disrupt the Shimmi. You could use your hands as a frame for the Shimmi, or  Fifi Abdou as a transition between sides. Curled hand motions (“drawing Hummus” in the professional jargon…)  Fifi Abdou interfere with the cleanliness of  Fifi Abdou motion. For an example for how to combine hand motions with  Fifi Abdou Shimmi, you could watch a video sequence from my web site Fifi Abdou  (from my performance in Kokhab Ha’Mizrach, “Star of the East”).  Fifi Abdou 

1 Did you do something difficult or complex? It will be visible from afar. Combine a motion or a series of motions in your choreography that will amaze your audience and make them ask you how you did it (Again: not at the cost of inaccuracy!).

19) Breath – Moves and motional sentences look different when the dimension of breath is added to them. To see the difference, dance the same sentence once with a closed mouth and once while breathing (This doesn’t mean dancing with an open mouth, this isn’t aesthetic), but when you raise your body to take a breath and emphasize on the release of air. The Arabesque move when you rise on the tips of your fingers is an excellent example. We walk diagonally three steps, and in the fourth we rise on our toes and take our breath with the twist. This helps the rise to the tip of our fingers and creates order in our sentence!

20) Qualities of motion. I’ve explained this in the previous chapter, and here I wish to add a few things. It is possible to perform a move turned inward, and the same move bursting out. Or a similar move: a feminine soft move, versus a stronger and heavier – masculine – move. Be careful: they have to be combined well. This attribute stands out in our dance. The various Mawalls usually demand from the dancer to be focused inward. You have to combine into your dance some periods in which you appear to be dancing for yourself alone. This isn’t an energy that bursts to the audience in an attempt to excite it, but the audience remains excited and focused on you even if you appear to dance only for yourself. All of this is different from the bursting energy of solo drumming, or a classical dance in which the dancer rushes to the stage with a scarf and the energy is that of the Element of Air. Or the heavier, Earthier, Balladi or Sai’di dances.

[b]Integrating Music in the Choreography[/b]

In oriental dance, the music we choose often dictates the style of our dance. Classical, Balladi, Sai’di and so on. From this point I enter the next stage of dealing with music with lyrics and with instrumental music.

[b]Instrumental Music[/b]
1) Paying attention to the playing instruments and adjusting your moves to them: there are some oral traditions regarding the moves that fit each instrument that plays in the background. For example: a flute for hand motions, an accordion (usually in Balladi tunes) for large sigh motions, Darbukas and similar instruments for body emphasizes and Shimmi, Kanon for Shimmi. Do you know the moves used by Nagawa Fu’ad? In her videotape she dances with a band and show the appropriate moves for each musical instrument.

2) Entering the dance – The dance’s starting point is very important and builds your stage presence. Will the music be an introduction to your dance? Will you enter the stage immediately in the beginning or only after several minutes? Many tunes, usually classical, begin with what I call “trumpeting” and announce that something new is about to enter the dancing arena. Such a music will serve well a performance’s opening. There are some dancers who even add a verbal “title” to their music, announcing their appearance on the stage a few seconds in advance. Entering with the beginning of the music is somewhat mysterious, accompanied with a scarf, from which you are revealed later on.

3) The middle of the dance: pauses in the dance. Even though we are in the middle of the stage doesn’t mean that we have to give our full energy all of the time. We can do so, but this is a conscious choice. It is possibly to vary our dance and suddenly focus all of our attention in the palm that does a minimal motion. This inspires curiosity and raises expectations for our next moves as long as it is truly done from the bottom of our heart and with real purpose. In short, we don’t have to fill the music all of the time or to constantly chase it. For example, this is one of the things I like in the dancer Dina. The music could rage around her and she could choose to flap her thigh once or perform a “washing machine” circle. Try it out! We must remember that we are one of the instruments of our music, but also the conductors of the entire musical score. Most of us dance the music, but there is the place of creativity and the difference between different performers and different dances. How we translate the music to our body and what we choose to do with it.

4) Up beat and down beat: focusing on the rise or on the speed of descent. In music in general, not only in oriental dance, there are up beat and down beat. In classic ballet, for example, the dancers could raise their leg in the up beat or rise on the tips of their finger for a pirouette. These terms have rooted themselves in our dance as well, and pay attention to the new-generation dancers, such as Dina, who perform a circle or raise their body up in the up beat. In focuses such as solo drumming, we could play with the beat and change its pace. We could focus on one on the expense of the other. This creates a very interesting play of choreography. In this way, and especially in our dance, it is possible and even advisable to go beyond conventions and raise the focus in the downbeat.

[b]Music with Lyrics and how to add Mimics to it[/b]
Music with lyrics is music with contents and thus it requires mimics. The same thing could be said about very famous instrumental music that their meaning is well known, such as Int Omri.

A few recommendations:
1) Translate the song. Know what its contents and meaning are. It is very awkward to perform in a wedding celebration and sing a song about farewell.

2) If possibility and confidence allow, you should learn the song by heart. This shows the audience that you are on good terms with the song, aware of it and that you are “in the know”.

3) Non-verbal gestures. Every culture, be that the Jewish, the Egyptian the Turkish or the Gypsy ones, there are gestures that came into dance from the day-to-day language. Use them but know their true meaning. I remember returning from a workshop where I’ve learnt a mimical gesture, and due to my joy and self-confidence I showed it to a Muslim friend, and he turned pale and told me to never do this gesture, as it is done only when someone dies. So be extremely careful and check yourself well.

4) In most songs, most of which are about love, you could find the words Alabi (my heart), Hubb (love), Zaman (time in Arabic and in Turkish) and for each of them you could use a gesture that mimics it. For example putting your hand in the direction of your left ribs for Alabi. Remember that different cultures interpret mimical gestures in different ways.

A Few Basic Verbal Terms
Many words repeat many times in oriental poetry. Most of us don’t know Arabic or Turkish well, and as much as we will study, there will still be several deep-rooted expressions that a foreigner will have a difficult time understanding them. Lets learn a few expressions and words in Arabic in order to understand their connotation in the dance.

Albi – My Heart
Hubb - Love
Habibi – My Love
Nur – Light
Balad - Town or Village
Bint el balad – Daughter of the Town or of the Village
Amar – Moon
Gamil – Beautiful (male)
Hilwa – Sweet (female)
- hudni – Take Me
Layali - My Nights
Ein – Eyes
Aktar – Greater than...
Inta – You (male)
Inti - You (female)
Omri - My Lif

Belly Dancers
An unofficial convention of storytellers took place in an enchanting, mystical evening in the desert. Around bonfires, sandstorms and improvised music, a dancer arises and ties a scarf to her waist. The motions, the grace, the colours, the quicksilver ringing of the scarf’s bells… the impression is strong, a living legend of oriental fantasy.

In Israel, a country which more than a half of its territory has a desert climate, this is no fantasy. Bedouins, Along with businessmen who realize the Negev’s potential, have laid down sheets and built tents, planted palm trees and built guesthouses intended for holiday takers and high tech company workers who came to take a rest and escape from the bustling city. An entertainment plan was constructed for them, including a rich meal and s story about the Bedouin way of life, accompanied by a live demonstration of coffee bean roasting, Rababa (a single-string musical instrument accompanying the Bedouin sung story) music, and a “drummer’s circle” (this is an Israeli term describing a group of drummers who perform in celebrations and teach the audience various beats). Then a belly dancer appears and gives her own show in which she gets the participants up and leads them in a big hafla dance (Hafla is, in both Hebrew and Arabic, an Oriental party). The evening is concluded with quality Baklavas (very sweet Middle-Eastern cakes) and black Turkish coffee.

The belly dance scene isn't limited to the Israeli deserts alone; quite to the contrary, belly dance courses have sprung up in many places, namely sports centers, country clubs and dance studios. Women from all ages and all social groups join these courses en masse. Some men participate as well, although their number is far smaller than that of the women who attend these courses. It has been transformed from a form of dance previously considered as vulgar to a popular, exciting and liberating dance. Belly dance is even considered among the general public as physically healthy, and alternative doctors heartily recommend it to their patients as a way to remove bodily blocks and raise personal morale.
The oriental dance courses are the most popular courses today, and are considered with Israel's official folk dance. Moreover, many folk dance courses combine their traditional dance with oriental dance or Debka (another form of an oriental dance). This fact has given these courses an aura of luxury and the belly dancers who teach in these centers sometimes earn twice or three times the wage of any other instructor who teaches in central Israel.

Israel has a high number of belly dancers when compared to its population size. As this form of dance develops in Israel, well-educated dancers join its ranks, dancers who are well capable of teaching and who see their job as an art.
Unlike the past, when the belly dancer catered to entertainment and sex-entertainment needs alone, today the dancer takes initiative, performs in prestigious theaters and sometimes combines discussion groups and lectures in her performance.
The Israeli belly dancers, unlike their sisters in Turkey and in the Arab countries, do not join this profession because they are in dire need of money. First and foremost, they love the dance, and have applied to a course to study it and through this became dancers on their own. Unlike them, most of the belly dancers with whom I have discussed in Turkey, including the most famous of them, have started their careers due to a financial requirement and as the sole bread-winners of large families when they were still adolescent girls.
The dancer in Israel is admired by her students and inspires her audience, in her physical and theatrical ability, and in her message of the liberation of the Human body and of its acceptance for what it is. More than once I was invited to the homes of families to dance after a gourmet meal. No longer have we danced for the pleasure of drooling men, but as an attraction and a positive experience for a whole family.

These facts seem too good to be true to many dancers around the world, as they might have seemed to Israeli dancers several years ago. How did this change occur? What are the pieces of this puzzle and what component of the Israeli personality gives basis to the study of belly dance? In comparison to Turkey, another Middle Eastern country in which amateur courses are as common as in Israel, only a few women apply to belly dance courses and these courses only exist in very few places.
And how, you ask, could the dance which is gaining so much popularity in Israel be the dance of the enemy???

to be continued...

[size=18]About the Author:[/size]

Vered Shevach is a professional dancer, dance instructor and choreograph who performs in Israel and Turkey. She also operates a Hebrew belly dance forum on the Internet.
As she followed her family's original, Turkish culture, she has deepened her knowledge of the Turkish style of dance and has studied with the leading Turkish teachers: Nergis Ebru, Nesrin Topkapi, Tulay Karaca and Aytul Gibi, in Oriental and Roman Gipsy dance. While staying there, she began performing in today's most respected clubs in Istanbul: Orient House, Gar Music Hall, Glata Kolisei, Arkad and Istanbul Inn. She is openly accepted there among the local belly dancers and in her visits to Turkey she is invited to perform in clubs and in various celebrations. She initiates and organizes yearly oriental dance workshops in Istanbul.

Additionally, she is routinely invited as a cultural representative and as a dancer to various events of the Turkish Immigrants' NGO, "Arkadash" in Israel. As a sign of their thanks and as a mutual gesture, the Turkish immigrants have translated her name to Turkish, and from there comes the name Gul.
* * *

The Turkish style is part of the repertoire of styles she performs. In the past she has danced in the "Iran Folklore" band and has performed in front of Persian immigrants. She knows the Egyptian dance style inside out and has studied with several senior Egyptian teachers (Muna Said, Randa Kamal and Diana).

Stage and Hall Performances
the author of this article initiates, produces and dances in several different theaters and in various dance festivals, sometimes in cooperation with other dancers. Among these events are: Karhamana in the Susan Dalal hall, the Istanbul Festival in the Yahalom Theater, Tel-Aviv- Cairo – Tel Aviv in the Petah Tikva Culture Hall (band choreograph), the Big Bazaar in the Jaffa Arab-Jewish Theater, One Thousand Nights and One in the Yad Labanim Theater in Raanana, Layla Bahan in the Han Theater in Jerusalem. She has also appeared in many television shows in Israel

These facts seem too good to be true to many dancers around the world, as they might have seemed to Israeli dancers several years ago. How did this change occur? What are the pieces of this puzzle and what component of the Israeli personality gives basis to the study of belly dance? In comparison to Turkey, another Middle Eastern country in which amateur courses are as common as in Israel, only a few women apply to belly dance courses and these courses only exist in very few places.
And how, you ask, could the dance which is gaining so much popularity in Israel be the dance of the enemy???

To understand these things and more, I wish to tell you a little bit of history and give you some information about the Israeli people. The immigrants who came to Israel immediately after its establishment originated from the Arab countries as well as from Europe, so we have in Israel Jews who are called "Sephardim" ("Spanish"): Iraqi, Egyptian, Turkish, Persian and other Middle Eastern Jews … and Jews who originate from Europe, whom we call "Ashkenazim". We are, in fact, a mixture of cultures and ethnical groups who have a wide variety of traditions. The State of Israel, using educational and other systems, had attempted to join together and meld all of these peoples to create one identity: Jews. Only as a united people, they thought, it is possible to firmly stand against the crisis and wars that the country had to endure. When my mother came to Israel, her teacher has chosen a Hebrew name for her and made her change her name to that. Not the parents, not the family, but the teacher was the one to decide that my mother was to be called from that time on in her new name, and that way all of my family had Hebrew names.

The Middle Eastern Jews, the Sephardim, are the main clients of belly dance in Israel. In their love and nostalgia for the oriental culture, poetry and music, they used to invite belly dancers to family events, such as marriage celebrations and birthdays. In these events they would also invite Arab music bands and the dancer would dance to the sounds of live music. Despite this, the new, younger generation of these immigrants turned its back to its origin and culture, and embraced the style and culture of an "enlightened", advanced Western state. I am, too, part of this second generation, a daughter of parents of Persian and Turkish origin, and could be an example for this. For many years I have hidden my origin and of course did not like to hear oriental music, not to mention belly dance, which was considered as vulgar and immodest.

How and where did the change occur?
Oriental dance received legitimization in Israel only after a very long time, in which we have supposedly ridden ourselves from wars and from the needs to be one social block which sustains our state.
The ones who have pioneered the return to the roots were the Israeli "flower children", not of the 1970's but of a far later period, beginning in 1995 and reaching its peak in the 2000's. Groups of long-haired, hippy-style dressed peace-lovers jointed together and built colonies mainly in Israel's northern, green parts. Their symbol was peace and fraternity between peoples and they have expressed their message in the poetry and music which they have created. They used oriental, African and reggae music… all which was reserved and kept insides in the long years of repression found its recognition in festivals organized by these people, in which the participants sleep and eat in the wilderness. "Bereshyt", "Bombala and "Shantipi" are festivals who put forward the way of thinking in which every person is allowed to follow his or her own road` in the beginning the general public hardly responded, but soon, when these festivals were burned into the public's awareness, masses of people poured into them; they became almost national, and are celebrated yearly along with the Jewish holidays.

Many ethnical groups now feel that they could return and re-discover their roots: a prominent example for this is, of course, the Turkish Immigrants NGO – Arkadash - which is joined by 500 new members annually. This is the organization in which I am a member and in which I serve as a representative of culture and folklore. The Iraqi ethnical group organizes many folklore evening and gatherings of song and dance (haflas called "Cheleri").
The Israeli radio stations, originally broadcasting oriental music only on rare occasions, have opened their gates to the new age, and broadcast what the public likes. New pirate radio stations, broadcasting oriental music alone, have joined the spectrum. Cable TV channels began once more to broadcast Arab films starring belly dancers. It's important to clearly point out that the return to orientalism is no longer the domain of Sephardim alone. The oriental dance has spread to all social classes, ages and populations. Many Russian immigrants frequent the belly dance lessons and more than once become better than their Sephardic sisters thanks to their openness and a free mentality.
Once the obstacles of public image have been removed, a time of flourish began. Belly dance is a form of dance liked by women, and if we want to dig deeper and find out the reason for this, we must turn to examine the motives for the dance itself. How is the Israeli woman’s perception served by oriental dance? Why belly dance and not Flamenco? Why not modern dance? Why not ballet? Undoubtedly, the advantages of oriental dance are, on the physical level, the glossy look, the jewelry, the makeup and clothing, or, from a different aspect, a source of income. On the emotional level: feeling at the center, personal expression (creativity), confidence in the feminine body, sensuality and more. These are things liked by all women, for every woman everywhere, not merely in the Middle East

THE "enemy's" dance

At the moment, there are no Arab belly dancers in Israel. A few years ago
I’ve heard a rumor about an Arab belly dancer in Acco(a city in Israel), but my search for her found out that she does not actually perform belly dance and that she does not wear a two-part cloth. The Arabs, including the Israeli ones, like this form of dance as long as the dancer isn’t their daughter. “Modesty” and tradition prevent the existence of Arab belly dancers. The Arab village religious leaders disallow the establishment of clubs or entertainment establishment in which alcohol, which is prohibited by Islam, is sold. Not to mention belly dance…
Israeli dancers are invited to perform in front of an Arab audience. This seldom happens because they do not usually invite dancers to family events, and even if they do so, the dancer is requested to appear in whole and modest clothing. In the turn between the year 1999 and the year 2000, when I was still living in the city of my birth, Jerusalem, I was invited to perform along with a band of Jordanian musicians in front of Yasser Arafat in a Ramallah hotel. I traveled there to check out the place and see if it isn’t too dangerous. Eventually, I succumbed to my fears, even though it was a 5-star hotel located in a quality area. I declined the offer politely, and the hotel’s owners, who were unable to hire a belly dancer for Sylvester eve, were willing to pay almost any amount of money to organize a performance in their hotel to celebrate the New Year. Today Ramallah is in the Palestinian Authority controlled area and out of reach of most Israelis.

Israeli dancers favor the Arab audience. As long as it isn’t too dangerous, this is an audience that loves and cherishes the music and is familiar with the belly dance culture. More than once this illusion is shattered in the face of belly dancers, who find out that even among the Arab population the attitude towards belly dance is as to some kind of an entertaining striptease.

Oriental dance in Israel exists on its own right and is not connected (despite the accompanying music is in Arabic) to politics and to national conflicts. The dance is far more connected to liberating the woman’s pelvis than to any political issue. Moreover: as a country that lives and exists in the Middle East we are part of that culture. For me, the dance is not foreign to me or adopted by me. Many previous generations of my family have performed it. It belongs to me; maybe no more than it belongs to Ms. Aziza from Egypt, but no less.

We are far from Egypt, and this center of belly dance is an hour of flight away. We could also reach Cairo by bus. But there is a catch. Despite the peace agreements, many Israeli dancers are extremely afraid to go to study in Egypt. A few do travel, and make their best efforts not to stick out. Last year, two of my fellow dancers traveled to Cairo. They performed in a gala but were requested by Mrs. Raqia Hassan to declare that they were from other countries (and not Israel) for their own safety. So my brunette friend has told her hosts that she was from Sweden, and her roommate from Czechoslovakia. Several years ago, an Israeli dancer, Mali Malmula, has organized a workshop for Israeli belly dancers in Sinai, and has invited the Egyptian dancer Mona Said to teach in it.
So we, dancers and dance students from all over Israel, traveled to Sinai, and a gala was organized in which Israeli dancers have performed and Mona Said was appointed to referee. Everything was going fine until news of the event have reached the Egyptian police, and they've sent detectives to Mona Said and told her to cease her work with us. Thus, in the second day of the workshop, the Israeli dancers who came to it had to save it from ruin, and each dancer, in her turn, passed a workshop to the participants,
Mona Said, despite her heavy fears, returned to teach us, in the last day of the workshop, but had to ask for all of the dance hall's windows to be covered.

Despite the fact that many obstacles still remain on our road to Cairo, there are still accessories, equipment and dancer's clothes that are imported from Egypt. Several Israeli tailors, who are belly dancers themselves, produce clothing for the dancers. The designs are modern and innovative, but since their labor is far from cheap, they usually don't sew the payettes one by one as in Turkey or Egypt, and mostly use stones, payette chains and necklaces.


THe belly dance in israel

T It could be said that there is a style typifying the Israeli belly dancers. Most of them were inspired by Egyptian dancers. From this basis we have created our own versions and combinations, facial expressions and mimics. Most of the Israeli dancers rarely study abroad, save for short workshops around the world; everything needed is within reach in Israel. Among the styles performed here are all those known and familiar from Egypt: Saidi, Malaia, Balladi, Oriental (also a well-developed scarf dance), Zar and a little Hajla. Sagat or Zills are rarely used. A tribal style, as has developed in the USA doesn't exist here at all, and so doesn't the Pharohtic style.
Events and performances of oriental dance are advertised almost on a monthly basis, from performances in restaurants to stage performances, festivals and workshops. Sometimes there is more supply than demand, but demand is still high.

In the last two years, the media publications were joined by Internet forums discussing belly dances. I operate a forum called "Turkish Dance". In this forum, dancers and dance students participate in the discussion and raise various issues related to the dance, advice, notifications about performances and articles. The forum actually serves as an alternative to a paper or a magazine about Oriental dance. In Israel, no such magazine exists.
Another initiative which is gaining ground these days is the establishment of the Belly Dancer's Union in Israel. Until now, there is no organization defending the dancers' rights. The initiating team, of which I am a member, seeks to give equal opportunity to organize performances to all belly dancers by creating funds, cultural establishments and insurances, by publishing a magazine, organizing legal advisory and assistance and by creating standard for the establishment of minimum prices for performances, workshops and dance lessons 

Istanbul, The month of Ramazan

this article written by vered(gul) will be publish in the next issue of zagarheet magazine in u/s/a and canada
מתוך יומן מסע אוקטובר חודש הרמאזאן איסטנבול, המאמר יפורסם בגיליון הבא של מאגזין זאגריט לריקודי בטן בארה"ב ובקנדה (ראו מאמר זהה בעברית)

Turkey celebrates the month of Ramadan (Ramazan in Turkish). Istanbul is decorated and shines in many lights and colors. The municipality has decorated the important mosques and the main streets with illuminated banners greeting the fasting believers. In this month the Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. According to Islam, in this month the Koran has been dictated to Muhammad by the angel Jibril, and Muhammad, who was busy writing the Koran, did not eat or drink from dawn to dusk, and from this arises the custom of fasting in the month of Ramadan.

The fasting time is shortened every day by approximately five minutes. An ear-ringing cannon-shot declares the daily breaking of the fast, and from that moment on a swarm of people floods the streets of Istanbul, the streets are clogged with traffic and the locals crowd the restaurants or the food stalls that have been set up near the mosques. In other places the municipality has erected large tents with benches, in front of which there are long queues of the needy. Even though Islam totally prohibits the consumption of any alcoholic beverage, many Turkish people go out to restaurants in which they intoxicate themselves with Raqi (Araq, a strong middle-eastern alcoholic beverage); however, in the Ramazan month things are different: alcohol is not consumed at all and smoking, or even dancing during the day are prohibited. Despite the fact that Turkey is an Islamic country, the Turkish people are free to decide whether or not to fast during the day. Turkish people who only pretend to “fast” sate their appetites in the upper floors of the restaurants in fear of criticism by their family and friends.

[b]The celebrations in Sultan Ahmet

Once the cannon-shot thunders over Istanbul and the Muezzins of the mosques begin the evening prayer (which actually signifies the end of the daily fast), masses of Turkish people go to the food stalls that have been erected along several hundreds of meters by the Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Gammi).

The stall-owners try to convince passer-bys to buy their merchandise by calling out, singing and dancing. There were ones who went overboard and dressed up as “Sultans” or wore traditional clothes of a folklorist flavor. Every stall had tables and chairs behind it exactly as a restaurant would have. Above them they hung thick sheets of cloth to protect the diners from the occasional rains.

Every imaginable kind of foodstuff is sold here, but especially national foodstuffs from every part of Turkey, such as Doner Kebab. a special kind of(bread) pida traditionally eaten before the fast and a lentil soup which is also considered to be a national soup.

The things that caught my eyes in the most mesmerizing manner were the stalls selling the customary sweets and sweet cakes of the Ramazan. An apple covered with a layer of red raspberry, and a large plate divided into compartments each filled with a sticky mash in a different color; the seller sticks a straw inside the sticky mash and roll, and then the seller moves on to a differently-colored compartment, until the end result is formed: a toffee-on-a-stick in many colors.

A huge tent was erected not far from the stalls, a café that serves tea, Turkish coffee and, of course, water-pipe (Nargila) smoking. A sign reading “FASIL” marked the tent, meaning “live music”. The Gypsies are considered to be the greatest music and entertainment artists in Turkey. In the past they were unable to get employment in other jobs, and thus choose to create their own work in fields that allow them their freedom and independence. Their income source and art were always music, singing and dancing, and so they were for the members of this particular band. The violinist, a bulky man with a mustache, manages the show, aided by a clarinetist (a very dominant instrument in Gypsy music), a Darbuka drummer and a Daf player. It is needless to say that there was no sound amplification .The tunes are of the national variety, but they are very happy to accommodate me with the 9/8. (A Gypsy music in an asymmetric rhythm, which draws any Gypsy to the dancing floor.) In between the words they shout: “Hoho, Hoho” That is their way to encourage dancing. For every request for a specific tune, there is a price tag. The violinist with the moustache points at a bill inserted between the violin strings to indicate it’s time for tips.
The moment the muezzin begins his praying, they stop playing and wait for the end. In the meantime, the violinist and the clarinetist busy themselves with verbal clashes. Then they go on to exchanges of “Tfu, Tfu”.
(In the Middle East ‘Tfu’ means spitting and occasionally disgrace and often as a protection against the evil eye.) After a round of pseudo spitting, they pass among the tables and collect more tips.

In the Gypsy neighborhood

The phone does not stop buzzing. With semi closed eyes I answer. “Gul, Genam”. (Genam is a nickname for a loved one). “How do you do?” Then comes a sequence of more sentences in Turkish spoken in Esma’s loud voice. She is from the Gypsy village. It leaves me in no doubt I am not dreaming.
The source of Esma’s name is from the Koran. Other Turkish names derive from completely different sources.
For example, a man named “field’s bird”.Esma’s brother, is coming to fetch me to the Gypsy neighborhood around 12 o’clock. We made an appointment. How do the Gypsies come to pick up someone, when they don’t own a car? They stop anyone who owns a car in the neighborhood and pay him with small bills, so they have a car for the pick up. But Arkin did not find his car so soon, considering the fact that most of the Gypsies don’t own a car. Eventually he arrives while I was moving around in the chilly Istanbul air. Even the roasted castanias (chestnuts in Ladino, popular during the winter season) bought from the peddler in the street corner, did not help to warm my cold hands. Arkin apologizes for the delay with the excuse of traffic jams. I smile.

The car is climbing its way through steep ascents and twisting slopes. One is welcomed to the village with a smell of fire and smoke, which is burning my lungs. A stranger will not come here unless invited by one of the locals. The Turks themselves will come only for a good reason. The laws of the street govern and those of the Mafia too. The neighborhood, generally basting with people is in a state of lethargy because of the Ramazan. Most of the residents fast and avoid walking around. Also, the Gypsy’s weddings do not take place during the Ramazan. Out of houses partly built of tins, smiling or shy faces peep and quickly hide behind curtains. Women’s heads covered with kerchiefs and men with moustaches appear. The impression is one of poverty and simplicity. It seems that time stopped ticking and bypassed this village. The “movies box office” for entertainment is actually a Tabun. (A stone oven for the baking of bread and pita. It’s opening is covered by a towel) Esma welcomes us and we take off our shoes in the entrance (It’s a Muslim custom). In a house of one by two meters with a small kitchen, a kneeling toilet and a sitting area we crowd together. Despite poverty and wont, the Gypsies have progressed and there is a telephone, television. and d.v.d in every house .In normal times, e.g. not in the month of Ramazan, if music breaks from one of the houses, immediately women flock in from all over the village. There is a customary Gypsy puzzle:” How do you separate two quarreling Gypsies? It’s simple: You sound Gypsy rhythm and they start dancing.” And so it appeared in my former visit in their house: First to arrive had been an old woman wearing a kerchief, who later turned out to be a gifted coffee reader; Then came more women with their little daughters. A small 3 year old was sitting in my lap and made “knaks” with her hands in a way I had never seen before. Another woman, big and fat was grasping my hand and was telling me her events for the day with a dance. One of the house residents was saying: “No teacher in the world will be able to teach what you have just seen here. This is an authentic dance people have learnt since they were born, but don’t be naïve” he continued, “Watch your purse!”. A tall girl arrived, her hair was dark and she was completely dressed in pink. The way she was dancing captivated my soul. Immediately I told her mother that she should be a dancer. Her mother replied: Sure, her father was going to sew a dancing costume for her and later he would make a big fire…I did not want to listen to the end.

The Gypsy dance tells of the different labors: Picking flowers, laundry, wiping sweat from one’s brow. We blocked one eye while dancing to imitate Gypsy baggers and we swayed on our feet while we were imitating the lame. And all is accompanied by encouraging shouts as they are used with solo players of the Maaval
The Gypsy dance has a different style for men and women. After a session of tiring dances, the women stretched on the sofa and even the old ones smoked cigarettes.

But today we shall not dance. It’s against the Ramazan rule. Even the coffee reading is not allowed. Nevertheless, the Gypsies find it oppressing to abstain, especially when they have good partners for the dance
Esma hastens to let me listen to a new contemporary Gypsy music disc. Though her mouth is dry from fasting, she dives into a short dance. After watching the famous dancer Asna in a television interview, we walk around the village with Arkin. Here he is pointing at a square where weddings take place.

We watch the prayers in the local mosque, listening to the muezzin reading from the Koran. To my surprise, Arkin is leading us to a building painted with the Star of David. “It’s the Jews’ mosque” he says’ so it’s a synagogue! It turns out that this neighborhood is crowded with different nationalities. In the evening Esma’s husband comes back from work. A kind hearted handsome man, with glittering eyes, round face and small beard. We wrap ourselves with warm clothing and overcoats. Esma covers her head with a kerchief as befitting a devout Muslim. I look exactly like her when I wrap myself with a big orange pashmina scarf, rolled several times around my head and neck because of the cold wind and rain. My friends are laughing: “You are well acclimatized”. From there we are marching to a place called Feshane near Ayup Sultan.

The Celebration in Feshane.

You are mistaken to think that the month of Ramazan is gloomy.. The Turks contend themselves with a lot of food and nonalcoholic beverage and especially with good music. In the Feshane there is a place that functions as an amusement park throughout the year with colliding cars which float on water, uncomplicated rollercoaster and horse merry go round They added a roofed market, a lot of ornament stalls (A huge selection of golden jewelry useful for belly dancing, clothing, shoes and house utensils.

We spent time by a stall for massage instruments. Each of us in his turn was sitting and having fun, while his back was massaged. Esma, her loud voice heard all over the market, bargained for me. When merchants had refused to accommodate her, she dragged me and I encouraged her not to give in .”why is it so expensive? Is it gold?” The men of our company were of course attracted to a car stand. Ali, Esma’s husband approached a tall dealer impeccably dressed. Ali looked so small in comparison to him that it aroused laughter. Ali asked to try the car sits and have the feel of it, as if that will help him to make a decision. They cannot afford a car. Ali and Arkin were sitting in the car, trying the stirring wheel. I was deeply moved. They were so cute. They stood up as if it’s not their type of car. In order to lighten the atmosphere, I stood by the dealer, looking up as to a skyscraper. They burst with laughter and forgot about the car and it’s price. Outside, around the food stalls they raised a tent and in a few seconds the band performance will begin. Who is the head? A clarinetist who is the son of the old coffee reader. ( the clarinet is very popular in Turkish music). “My mom told me about you” he says. “Welcome” and he makes a pelvic movement to indicate he is aware of my profession. Ten players perform with him. They play the darbuka, mazhar, tamburin, violin and cannon. I hope I did not omit any.

At the tables they serve coffee, tea sweets and nargile A 7 year old girl gets up suddenly and starts a mixure of belly and Gypsy dancing. The girl was amazing. I could not let my eyes of her, but all of a sudden, one of the waiters dressed as a Sultan, arrived and asked her family to order her to sit down. The owners wanted attention to focus on the players and not on dancing. The players had a different opinion and gestured me and Esma to dance, but we signaled back it was not welcomed, pointing at the girl.

The Turkish tables accompanied the players with singing. The Turks love the sad words and crying in the songs The more painful it sounds, the better it is. (They are not of the younger generation). The singer trills his voice. Once in a while, the waiter passes a note with a request from the audience. Later the clarinet, darbuka and cannon players collect pips and shake hands with admirers. By the way, the word “darbuka” is Turkish. name In the Arab countries and in Egypt the darbuka called “tabla”.

The performances

When every one rest during the weekend and go out to entertain, it’s the best time for belly dances. Then many groups of tourists crowd the tourists’ folklore clubs.
It’s disappointing that the Turks do not show up there. The price is expensive, 40-50 $ including dinner. Besides, they are not welcome by the owners. “Alcohol and belly dances mixed with the Turkish population lower the standard of the place. The Turks themselves do not really care. The preferred pastime of the older generation is watching television.. In any second program in one of the numerous channels of Turkish television one can watch belly dances. Belly dancers are invited to private parties. A new business that developed only lately is agencies for workshops by belly dancers, and performances in and outside of Turkey. The work in the clubs for belly dances is demanding and calls for perseverance. It’s seven days a week in the same place and at the same time. Wages are low, determined according to the monthly salary. There is a new problem when the dancer has a private show, which we call ‘extra”. The payment for extra is between 200-300$. In any oriental club three dancers perform. Their rating is determined by seniority, talent and popularity. Thus, dancers who close the evening, do not manage to get in time for the extras and it is risky to ask for a changer. Many of the dancers in those clubs suffer attrition. On the other hand, they gain stage experience.

The Turkish fashion for belly dancing dress today

A short survey: The Turkish fashion has not changed dramatically as in Egypt. Most of the costumes are ornamented with fringes, especially with a lot of stone work (“tas” in Turkish). One can find the triangular belt in any fashion designer shop. In many costumes the belts on top of the dress have been given up for decorated skirts in the pelvic area. The Turkish dressmakers disapprove of costumes like that of Dina They cannot understand how one can dance in a costume without ornaments. Although many Europeans bring skirts designed by Dina’s designers in order to be copied, this fashion has not gotten a hold here. And what about the dancers who work every evening in the clubs? Most of them have one or two costumes. The audience there changes every evening, so they prefer not to change costumes often, because of the price. The fabrics are lycra or glittering. Imitation of snake or tiger skins is also fashionable. This is as far as they are ready to go. The dominant colors are bordo, pistachio green, gold, turquoise, white and pastel pink.
Work quality: Due to cheap work, all stones and embroidery are sewn. Each designer has her own design for the bras. Sometimes it’s possible to find different designs. Unique for Turkey and very impressing are the costumes with a skirt shaped with splits, all of which decorated with “shtrases” and stone work or a transparent net under the splitted skirt embroidered with glittering stones. The designer suits (not from the bazar) cost 600 $ or more. A new dress item, added to the Turkish dress is a winged scarf (issis) that costs 130$.
Now come with me behind the curtains of the belly dancing scene in Turkey.

Friday; Performance in Orient House.

We enter through the artists’ entrance to our dressing rooms. I stay in the same room with Oia.
In the meantime, a plate of seasonal fruits and water are brought by the theater attendant. The room is stuffed with wardrobes, the dancers’ personal effects, their loved one photographs and pictures of handsome guys and there is also a bathroom. Most of the dancers arrive and start to prepare themselves and to apply makeup.
Birgul as always appears as if she has just come from a fitness club. She is dressed in training suit and sport shoes. I prefer to come strait from home and ready and prepare quietly on my own terms. That’s why I have time to chat with Oia about hair supplements which most of the Turkish dancers use and about dress shops and about news. The attendant comes into the room and interrupts the small talk. Oia is expected to go on stage in about five minutes. Oia is a Russian who has been living in Turkey for the past ten years with a Turkish boyfriend. Her dance is very sensual. Her spinning on stage is like a storm. She dances to the tunes of Galila’s disc music. As expected it is a dance on heels with a stick, then solo drums. Afterwards, she is circling the audience and is photographed with people as bills of money decorate her dress, as a clear hint for the audience to tip her.
Lately, there has been a new performance in the Orient House. It’s called “the dancing Dervish”. It stirred controversy, because it is a religious dance. Nevertheless, one does not argue with the Orient House. After the Dervish it is my turn to walk on stage. The master of ceremonies announces to the audience that “now, a dancer will broaden your horizons. Her belly does impossible fits. Ladies and gentlemen (in English), welcome Gul, the dancer!”. And I’m thinking: “Where should I lead them today”. There were many Iranians in the audience. While I was dancing to an Arab tune, a woman got up, stood by the stage, held my hand and kissed it.
She was very excited. Others came from the “slanting eyed’ countries, from Norway and from oter European countries. It is a completely different audience than the Mediterranean one I’m used to. An audience I find difficult to read. They look excited and applaud in the end. A dazzling performance caused by the fleshes of the slanting eyes.

The performances in Istanbulin Harbiye and at a restaurant in Koomkape.

An important guest arrives today with her students to the club in Istanbulin. Before her visit to the holy land of Israel to the Shaar Hagolan festival, she and some of her students from the USA stop over in Turkey in order to absorb more belly dancing..In the afternoon, John kafri called me and was glad to find out that I perform in Istanbulin, because it was the club they intended to visit today. The club owner asked me to come half an hour earlier, in order to schedule the program with the band. He requests that one segment of my show will be accompanied by cymbals (zill in Turkish). He regrets that no one in his club dances with cymbals. In his youth he worshipped Tulay karaja, the legendary dancer and a champion of cymbal dancing. But she stopped performing since she has been married
Tulay, an appealing blond, was the one to bring us together and subsequently I was offered a permanent position. Cymbals can be found in the musical instruments street that follows Istiklal Caddesi. It is the musicians’ street. It has authentic and modern instruments, flutes made of bamboo or black plastic, lute, baglama, darbuka, cymbals etc I chose bigger and heavy cymbals with high pitch that would fit the band sound. From another shop for belly dancing dress I got thick new rubber so I would be able to tighten the cymbals to my fingers. It’s hard to get used to new cymbals. It is the same as with musical instruments. You are used to one brand and suddenly they change the model.
Before the performance, I sit with the manager and use the time to connect the rubber to the cymbals. The truth is that while I was drinking tea, the club manager found a way to attach the cymbals.
The band chief is a violinist. All Turkish players are familiar with the Aziza version. Later we pick another song by ibrahim Tatlisas, a Turkish song “Mavi-maVi”, another classical song, darbuka solo and finale. It is easier when the darbuka player arrives. I mention “dom” and “tak”. He knows all the rhythms but is ignorant of their names. At last we choose drums solo based on the rhythm “masmudi kbir”. In Istanbulin, as is in other oriental Turkish clubs, the program is similar: Folklore dancing, Ashuk- Mashuk, and Caucasian with a new twist.

They use a female dancer, three belly dancers and a singer capable of singing in any language. The first dancer of the evening arrives. She is Elul, born of a German mother and a Turkish father. She is blond with strait hair and lean. She hurries to show me the new acquisition, a purple dancing suit. She scatters shinning chips all over me with a make up sponge. We help each other to dress. Another dancer is Hurham, the Gypsy. She performs a Gypsy piece. She is cute, brown, and often provocative. Her younger sister works at the Gar club
Who is in the audience today? Iranians, Greeks, Thais. The attendant summons me to get to the room from which one walks on stage. I am among the few who dance without shoes. The band starts with Aziza but they are not familiar with more than a stanza. And then they go on to play solo clarinet. I change my rhythm accordingly. Here are John kafri and the girl I approach them still dancing and greet them. Near the stage, a group of Frenchmen with two Chinese try to offer me tip But they have no idea were should they put it, because I do not have a belt. I approach them and withdraw again. They laugh embarrassed. I pass to the Greeks and Iranians side. There are some women there who shake their shoulders

I cannot get near them. They are too far and my job is to dance on stage and not with the audience.
The dancer who closes the evening has to perform but not to activate the audience. In drums solo I climb the stairs and stand near the drummer. It is an improvised solo., swift and intensive. With my eyes I sign him to finish the solo. It is time for curtsey and the finale, in which we depart. I introduce the band and thank them too. The stage lights are out and we all go behind the curtains. We sit with the band, drink and exchange impressions about the show. I hurry to pack and to organize for the next performance, but first I have to depart from John and the girls.
From here I travel to another part of Istanbul, to a place called Koomkape for a show in a fish restaurant with a local troupe
Koomkape is a large stone gate. (“kape” is a gate in Turkish). It leads to a pedestrian mall that is crowded with numerous fish and sea food restaurants . It’s a tourists’ district, but many Turks spend time there, often in order to celebrate an important occasion such as birthdays or entertainment of friends from faraway. In the month of the Ramazan, one seldom observes Turks there because of the alcohol prohibition. But if one cares for a live music or wine (raki), this is the right place. At the summer time, the place is crowded and the street players have their pick of restaurants or people to play for. When the mood is good, a spontaneous party starts to play in the street. The women tie their scarves to the pelvis and start hopping. The men take care of the tables that might fetch fat tips. If it is a couple, the man will ask the band to sing love songs for his spouse. Gifted singers may be discovered there and more than few Turks take a try at “Kariuk.”..
Jallal, the restaurant owner, a 35 years old man with thick jell spread on his hair, bristles on his face and green eyes is elegantly dressed. He is a shrewd businessman. In contrast to the other restaurants, he has his own band, a security man and cars which carry tourists back to their hotels. In this season, he does not miss any tourist passing by. The moment he notices a blond walking by, he immediately sends one of his workers to bring him in. My employment is another valuable means to draw an audience with something the other restaurants lack. Why? Every district in Turkey has its own municipal authority. Because the restaurant is open to the street, belly dancing is prohibited. The mayors of this district are religious. He risks being fined by hiring me, but money fixes every thing. I come down the second level to the central space.. The stairs lights are dimmed. Instead, candles and fireworks are glowing. The waiters welcome me with a basket of rose petals, which they scatter above my head. The band starts with a tune for the scarf dance and then cannon, lute, tambourine, violin and darbuka. Soon joins another darbukist, who was passing by. We did not yet get a taste of the scarf music and it turns to an exciting drum solo. T he darbuka player is a master of improvisation. He plays with the rhythm in a way that brings out my best movements. What I cherish in him is that in comparison to many players, whose ego is at the expense of the dancer, he follows my movements and not the other way around. There is a beauty in serving the other completely. In Turkey it is a part of their culture. I check him during the performance to make sure I do not imagine it. I change my rhythm and Smile with pleasure. The darbuka indeed is following me. After 5 minutes of drum solo, all the band members sing and play together cannon solo. It is typical for the Turkish playing to pinch in a tone of “glish” (sliding) on a number of strings.

We close the first part of the evening with a Gypsy dance 9/8 rhythm). At this point, one of the players joins me and starts to dance. In the Gypsy dance they generously use mimes, characters and pretend to sit on the floor and launder. These guys are not up to date.: In belly dancing the machine has been already invented. A circling movement is called “ a washing machine”. After a short rest, we return. This time I raise people from the audience: Japanese with camera flashes, a Turkish family, 2 nurses from a Turkish hospital and a group of South Americans. It is important to understand that most of the tourists have never been exposed to belly dancing other than in “A thousand nights and one”. What for us is being taken for granted, is astonishing for them. You should have seen their faces. It is a gratifying experience for me. The stunned tourists make an effort to thank us in Turkish and let us know how a wonderful experience it was for them. They talk to me as to a Turk who does not understand English using sign language or international words such as “Bravo”. They do not notice my reply in English. They assume I am a villager. So I respond according to their expectations and greet them in Turkish.

After the performance, grilled fish, salads and toasted pita with savory were served at our table. Loud tones of zorona came out of the sound system. Jallal, despite being a tough manager,is dancing with the waiters in a circle. It is called “Hallai”: Each holds the other’s little finger. Others wave napkins picked from the tables. The dance is similar to Debka. Based on their accent, and fraternity, I assume that some of the waiters are Curds.
I shall return to Jallal’s restaurant tomorrow after my performance in the

Orient House

Sunday; A performance in the Orient House and in the Turkish restaurant.

Orient House
I regret I did not bring with me more dancing suits. I did not have enough space in my suitcase and was also afraid to lose the suitcase. I’m requested to take Birgul’s place. She is the third dancer after the show. She is interested in my workshops in Turkey.
My performance lasts for eighteen minutes, which is the longest in the Orient House: Scarf dance, drums sols, hafla, another drums solo and then finale. In the end, someone takes care to return the scarf. Didn’t we say a Turkish service?
Most of the Turkish dancers are not involved with international and Egyptian activity of belly dancing. They are not familiar with dressing styles or folklore dancing other than the Raks Sharqi. Only three of the dancers I know have stayed in Egypt. Maybe explanation lies in the feedback they receive from the flourishing tourism of belly dancing in Turkey. They are rated second to Egypt. In Turkey tourism is great throughout the year.

Istanbul lies in the middle and is divided to the European side and to the Asian side. Surprisingly, it is the Asian side that is endowed with impressive neighborhoods, even according to European standards. Every tourist visits these clubs at least for one time. Maybe it is one of the reasons that Turkish dancers do not make an effort to change their repertoire. Moreover, because of the high demand for Turkish teachers to administer workshops to European groups, the price is skyrocketing. For example, a six hours workshop costs 2000$ stated in Turkish or Euro currency. Another club manager told me that right now there is no master of belly dancing in Turkey.
He compared proudly contemporary dancers with the stars who have used to perform in his club.
From there I continued to a performance in Koomkapa. Today I have a program I chose personally: “hayde soyle”’ of Ibrahim, which is stunning and very exciting, an overture to the scarf dance, and solo for the Sagat.
I tell them ahead not to play drums solo right in the beginning. The band consents and the program starts. The tourists do not spare tips and when they leave at the end of their meal, they do not forget to tip generously.

Ahmet the dancer and the meeting with the Mezdeke band.

I’m going for a business meeting with the Mezdeke troupe in the studio adjacent to Bella, the dress designer.
Mezdeke is a group of three women with a veil on their face. Only the eyes show. It is their identifying mark. They are more than a group. They are actually an enterprise: They issued serial of discs with the music they are used to dance to. They are not allowed to expose their face, even not in a television interview. Lately, they regrouped and it consists of two females and one male choreographer- dancer, named Ahmet.
They start with the scarf dance. Ahmet indeed has brought life to the group and a very professional and interesting choreography. He explained to me his teaching method: “First I show them the steps and only later I work on polishing the movements and mime”. Next we work on choreography for the stick dance. In Turkey stick is called “baston”. I show them the possibilities and movements with the stick, with which they are not familiar. Ahmet dances better than the other dancers in his group. One of the steps with the stick is very similar to the debka dance. Later we move on to a Gypsy dance in which Ahmet is dancing solo. The girls want to watch my dancing. I show them some of the scarf solo and the darbuka from my repertoire. We spend some time on specific movements in which they show interest.
I leave them in order to get ready for the evening performance. I cannot avoid entering into Bella’s shop, which is close by. She is in Belgium. I’m received by the dressmakers and by…many cats that are lying in the show room. I do not see any novelties, though lately, there are new designers with more daring. But Bella has her own quality and her stitches stand the trial of fire and water

The show in Beyzet and in Galata Colisseu.
Beyzet is a restaurant frequented mainly by Turkish audience and in high season by tourists. I perform with a gypsy band. It is the least professional of those I have heard during this visit. Even the restaurant owner prefers I should dance to disk music instead of dancing to their music. I prefer experience to accuracy and eventually appear with the band. I dance the scarf, drums solo, cymbal and two more merry songs. The Turkish audience looks surprised but satisfied. They do not get up from their chairs at all during the performance.

Saturday:
The Galata tower
The Galata tower is known as a tourist attraction because of the spectacular view over Istanbul. In the evening a club for folklore and belly dances is open with two halls. The program is as in any Turkish club. As usual, most of the audience consists of Japanese, Chinese, Norwegian, Swedish and French tourists I’m scheduled to perform in the second hall toward the end. This time I have an additional task; A “fati” is sitting on stage near the band. (It is a Turkish actor dressed as a Sultan.). He is surrounded by female tourists from the audience. By a signal from the drummer, I have to teach these women some belly dancing. I hope his signal is clear. I have known him from former performances. We agree upon rhythms for the drums solo and how to start and end the song
We choose “Zahi el Hawa” as an overture. The Galata band is very experienced in playing for belly dancing.
Throughout the years, they have learnt from the dancers to play classical tunes by listening to recorded Egyptian music. Except for the solo violin (doubtfully in the original tune of Abdel Chalim), all the rest perform here too, including a drummer who follows the dancers and not the other way around. One of the French women, who is sitting near the “Fati’, is drunk. The audience enjoys itself and the drummers dramatically emphasize our pelvic movements with loud ‘tacks’. The audience is warm and cooperating. The Sultan Daughters are applauded. The club owner is delighted. We close the evening with drums solo and finale.
In the office, a dancer who performed before me, is waiting. She is young, pretty and very acrobatic. “Where did you learn to dance?” She asks me. “In many places” I answer. But an important part of my studies has taken place in Turkey. The club owner looks at her inquisitiveness with disapproval. I depart and promise to let them know about my next arrival.

It is impossible to have a “Turkish dairy” without some crying; Well, I would not disappoint you. I made an appointment with Sema Yildiz, who was considered one of the great dancers in Turkey. Nowadays, she is generally busy with workshops throughout Europe and Turkey. To her credit, it should be said that many successful dancers came out of her “pipe”. For example, Asna and lately the popular Didam.
We go to belly dancing club called “Gar”. The owner asks me to come to perform there for at least half a year in the summer. “He or Sama can accommodate me”, he says, smiling from ear to ear.

The dancer Gulnihal arrives. She is the one to close he evening in the Gar club. I consider her one of the best dancers in Turkey. She joins our table. When the stage lights flash, I notice tears in her eyes. I do not need an explanation. She is missing my teacher who has left Turkey. She has always remembered me in connection to my teacher, her best friend. When I was a student, I stayed with her constantly at work and at home. I embrace her and cry too. We both miss her especially in the Gar. We try to call her, but there is no answer.
Now, the Caucasian band is on stage. There are some changes too: Every one is dressed in black ninga kerchiefs. I’m surprised that these hats have become fashionable. Soon, we shall know the facts. In the meantime, all the band members take off the kerchiefs except for the head dancer Tahir.
Gulinhal dances according to a new choreography. Her dance is beautiful, and aesthetic. It is a belly dancing worth its name. When I walk up to the artists’ room, I encounter Tahir, the dancer- choreographer of the Caucasian group, but I barely recognize him. Without the kerchief I realize his long hair had a short crew cut. It turns out that he was enlisted to the Turkish army. And is stationed in the Navy.
In Turkey, there is no way to avoid the army, even when you are well past eighteen. The army is definitely not a picnic: No vacations, no cell phones and no weekends because of the long distances. I wonder what would be the impact of his military experience on him. The Caucasian dancing demands great deal of stamina. Would he go back to dancing?


When I go back to Turkey, sometimes it seems to me, that time is at a standstill. When one returns after half a year, one meets the same people and the same performances, as if one is in a playback video. You leave, you come back and every body is still there. But to each of the characters in the show, there is a stage span. Few seasons ago, it was my teacher’s turn. She chose to dedicate her life to her family, and stopped being a professional dancer. Now it’s Tahir who was compelled to leave the scene. Who knows? Maybe in a few more years all the crew will change. Then a new generation of performers will consider themselves the best. Only the club owners stay the same. Business is as usual. When I really think about it, I ask what is their legacy other than making a singular impression on the audience at night. I do not have an answer other than this one:
They leave behind students who inherit their art and continue their way.

-The end-

On last Sylvester Eve, the lives of two people were about to change forever. For on that very day, in what seemed to be a night train between the East and the West, Raz and Haia got married. Haia is a solo musician in the Jerusalem Philharmonic Orchestra, and she had decided to celebrate her special night through music. The guest list for the wedding was quite colorful, ranging from doctors, lawyers, and musicians to Bohemian groups. On the invitation, the young couple promoted their party with praise to the Age of Fusion: “Roots of the East and winds from the West will sweep those who attend the party into the New Year.” The chosen example for that task was an artist whom both bride and groom believed would give true meaning to the concept of integration.

They chose a belly dancer: a feminine and sensual ideal, wearing a non-Oriental outfit that was more like a hi-tech fabric design; however, the dancer’s big smile and her Eastern dramatic mime left no doubt that she was there for the people and for their celebration of life like the belly dancers of historic times.  She would be a symbol of fertility and sensuality.

Since the ride was just beginning and there was more to come later, that night was very special for me; I was the chosen dancer.  This time, it was a unique and unusual celebration that hosted me as its artist. A group of less than a dozen people from Russia celebrated the New Year with a bright Christmas tree at their fancy villa in a neighborhood nearby. Unlike the 400 people at the wedding hall, this family invited me to do a show as if it had been held in a concert hall featuring me on its stage. Their hunger for Israeli warmth made them so thrilled and moved by my dance that it kept me dancing for a long hour. At the end of the show, I walked back to my car for the long ride home and re-lived the two different (and contrasting) events. It didn’t feel like I was in Israel. It felt like a movie, like a totally unrealistic experience….

Belly dancers are the hottest trend at the moment, unlike the totally frozen attitudes towards the Arab culture in Israel. A good professional dancer in Israel can work every night for $300 for each performance (and sometimes more).

She can possess a fine resume of professional appearances in dance festivals, TV shows, business events and galas with a respected artist name to follow her wherever she goes. However, it is not easy to get to that level! Good technique and good looks are not a guarantee for success. In Israel, the closeness of the audience and the need for a truly joyful temper leave no alternative but to be the “favorite”, and a favorite dancer is not necessarily the most flexible and technical dancer. A favorite dancer is the one who makes the audience want to hug her, the one who makes them smile and not just be impressed, the one who has a bright sense of humor and can get the audience to feel her through her music. The power of her presence is what they appreciate, and her strong personality will bring her many more clients.

My Romance with Oriental Dance
I started to dance at the age of 26 while I was working as a designer of museums and tourist attractions. As a child, I danced and did so until I joined the Israeli army at the age of 18. From there, I never expected to dance again.  Instead, I studied industrial design and made a career of it. No one could have convinced me that by the time I turned 30, I’d be one of the leaders of the Israeli Oriental dance scene and run a tour of my own show! Before I started to belly dance, I didn’t even know what a Belly dance was. I paid no attention to this art form, and as a young child, I was lured into the fairytale images of the classical ballet world.

Now, after less than five years between my first belly dance class in Tel Aviv, and my preparations for my Tel Aviv performance of “Star of the East” (after Haifa and Jerusalem), I can sit back and enjoy the view. I have totally transformed the atmosphere here regarding belly dance.

I decided to follow my dreams and to create my own fairytale; so, I created a show that set new standards for Oriental shows in Israel. As a result, dancers here have update themselves with changed hairstyles and costumes, like I did in my shows. I continue to promote new projects involving other dancers in order to expose this beautiful art form beyond the wedding halls and the evening galas of conventions.

During this time, I made my living from dance, because I had left my design office about a year after I started dancing. From my very first jobs, I made a good business impression and kept new clients while continuing to offer my dance routines to everyone possible -- from music festivals to restaurants to clubs. The point was to get into business. My style was bold, yet authentic. People said that I reminded them of the girls from the old Arab movies and that my energy and collaboration with people was a treasure.

No one cared about my shimmy or my steps; they cared about good entertainment.

However, I kept improving myself through experience. I stared to research the music written for Oum Kalthoum and what motivated her. I was fascinated by that. I taught myself cane dance and other Egyptian folkloric dance using videos of old movies featuring Egyptian dancers, particularly Fifi Abdu. At a certain point, I gave up working myself and started to send other dancers to various jobs, saving my strength and interests for only the best and most prestigious events.

My personal development is a symbol of what is going on in Israel. Be bold and creative and one can earn a place! I guess it inspires many other dancers, because there is no professional schooling system there as there is in Europe and the States. Many dancers find themselves traveling to find their dance education, but travel doesn’t necessarily make them successful.

The photos are from my debute show- "Nour el Amar" and the other dancers were not profesional, but I trained them as a troupe.

What is the Israeli style?
Due to our proximity to Egypt, we tend to like a more soulful, and less technical, focus.  We like more expression of the personality of the dancer and fewer gimmicks. For example, in Israel, only a few dancers can dance with a sword, a shamadan (candelabrum), play the sagat (finger cymbals) or perform a good veil dance. Here, we don’t use the wings of Isis, a double veil, or any other gimmicks.

Dancers here are committed to a pure, emotional dance, which is more related to the rhythm and to the song lyrics.

I personally do very well in the Egyptian Baladi style with a lot of mime and dramatic acting. I love to dance to Oum Kalthoum songs and to cry over them while dancing, but I’m clumsy with a veil and can’t carry anything like a sword or a shamadan on my head. I’m too energetic to keep it under control.

However, a lot of the local dancers are educated in Turkey, which is only a one-hour flight away.
The Turkish style is very different from the Egyptian, and in a small state like Israel, one can clearly identify between the different groups of dancers: the more technical (with less heart and soul) and the more vibrant and passionate (with less brilliant choreography) and the totally spiritual dancers who don’t care about their looks or their connection with the audience, only their connection with Mother Earth.

Of course, only a few can hold professional jobs for a long time and make it into a career, so most of the dancers teach and perform from time to time whenever there’s a chance.

When and where do we dance?
Besides weddings and parties, the most popular places to perform in are Bedouin tents that are located outside the big cities around Israel, especially in the Negev, which is the desert area between Jordan and Egypt. Unlike restaurants, the managers of these places work with professional dancers, and if the people are paying well, there’s a good chance to get the popular dancers for the shows. I work with five such places on a regular basis. There are also many haflas (dinners with music and dancing) that are also a great opportunity to experience our Israeli dance style.

In restaurants, one will see nonprofessional and very low standard dancers. Eastern restaurants will bring really cheap dancers, and fancy places will bring less embarrassing dancers, but not much more than that. Only the owners of a few places in Israel do auditions and carefully choose good dancers to work in their restaurants.

Israeli dancers are not always welcome in Arab villages, so they have their own dancers for their haflas.

The Arab community doesn’t always appreciate bare bellies, and usually prefers covered women, except in solo dances. I appeared in a few Arab weddings of the Christian religion (not the Muslim), and I was much appreciated. However, my dance is too expensive for that community, and I can’t come to dance for their events as often as they’d wish. On my tour, the majority of the crowds are Arabs or Israelis who are originally from Arab countries, and it is a delight for me to dance for such audiences.

Orit with Yael Becker,Yael Dabah and Eden Stern

How easy it is
When the students come to the class, especially the girls from an African origin, they are amazed how hard it is to move in the Oriental dance way. They think it’s going to be a piece of cake. Their attitude creates a problem. The more professional dancers there are, the more young beginners want to be like themstart to perform before they even know how to dance.
When the students come to the class, especially the girls from an African origin, they are amazed how hard it is to move in the Oriental dance way. They think it’s going to be a piece of cake. Their attitude creates a problem. The more professional dancers there are, the more young beginners want to be like them, and the young ones start to perform before they even know how to dance.

 

Sometimes clients ask over the phone for the price, and money is their bottom line, so many young dancers who have barely learned how to move their hips try to make easy money and to get into the dance world. Luckily, they don’t survive, and they do not ruin the reputation of the professional Belly dancers. However, this is probably going on all over the world, and it will continue as long as people think that this is a very easy dance that anyone can do because its body movements seem so natural. 

Also, there are only a few dancers who have good quality, fashionable wardrobes. Sometimes I’m shocked that dancers show themselves with such trashy and cheap costumes!  However, they probably won’t have a long career… I believe that a good performer mesmerizes the people with her energy and vibes, but that doesn’t mean she shouldn’t look wonderful, complete in a gorgeous costume.

Unlike our neighbors, Belly dancers and Arabic music are not daily routines on TV. Only occasionally does one have the opportunity to watch a dancer as a performer on a new show promotion or in a daytime talk show. So, if one wishes to enjoy authentic Middle-Eastern dance with warm and smiling dancers, one should come to Israel and visit. There certainly is a lot to check out; one may discover Belly dancing as it has never been seen before